Kingdom Heart: Individual Kingdoms
by Ronnin-themanwithnoprinciples
Summary: Three Keyblade wielders, trapped for years in The Realm of Darkness, hanging on to the memories they have left of before, and longing for a way out. When a mysterious light appears to them they regain their Keyblades of Light, what adventrues await them?
1. DISCLAIMER

DISCLAIMER

I do not own any content from Kingdom Heart. I only claim my OC's Miku, Manami, and Daichi and their Keyblades.


	2. A Light at Last

Kingdom Heart: Individual Kingdoms

_Chapter 1: A Light at Last_

"'There are three families of Keyblades: the Keyblades of light, Keyblades of darkness, and Keyblades of heart.

The first and second families differ only in origin; Keyblades of darkness are found in the realm of darkness, and are counterparts to the Keyblades we use in the realm of light.'" One girl recited. The girl was 19; she had green eyes, and short blonde hair.

"'The third type of key, the Keyblade of heart, came into existence when the World was reorganized after the Keyblade War. Without this key, Kingdom Hearts is forever beyond a person's reach. Only by gathering seven hearts of pure light-hearts completely devoid of darkness-may one forge a Keyblade of heart and open the door to Kingdom Hearts.'" Another girl continued. This girl was 17, had sea blue eyes, and her medium length hair was a light shade of purple.

"'All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came.'" A boy walks up to the pair of girls reciting. The boy was 20, had brown eyes and regular length hair of the same color.

The three of them held out one hand each, and then a blade appeared in each hand, and they all had the appearance of a key: these were their Keyblades. In the first girl's hand, Miku, the Keyblade was dark shades of purple, blue and grey, and had black straps that resembled stiff ribbons coming off it, and then some real black ribbons hanging off its tips and hilt. The second girl's Keyblade, Manami, was deep violet, and across it, it appeared to have deep black gems embedded in it, shadows stretching across the Keyblade down to the hilt. The boy's Keyblade, Daichi, was much simpler; the entire blade was jet black, three spikes coming off it and round bumps that looked like the top of a heart on the other side. Although the three blades differed plenty in appearance, there was one quality they all shared; they all had a light blue cat eye on the top of the hilt.

The words they recited were the teachings of their old master, whom none of them have seen in years. The blue cat eyes signified their Keyblades as ones of Darkness, though they had previously wielded ones of Light. They had not held their Keyblades of Light since the day they found themselves in this world they were in now, The Realm of Darkness. The past many years, in which time they had been trapped here, they had been looking for a way out, back to the world they had come from.

None of them remembered how they had gotten here, what world they originally lived, or anything of their old master other than the words they had just recited, not even his name. What they remembered of themselves was also very little, they knew their names, a little of what they did before coming here, how to use their Keyblades, and their own personalities. But beyond that, they had no memory of before The Realm of Darkness.

That was one motivation they had to escape this prison, they hoped that getting back to The Realm of Light would restore their lost memories, and then they could return to their old world. Other motivations would have been obvious. They had little to do here, and they were sick of what there was to do.

Then they appeared, the dark shapes born from the darkness in people's hearts, Heartless. If they didn't find a way out of this world, for the rest of their lives they would be subjected to fight the creatures, that or be swallowed by the darkness entirely.

They took up stances, wielding their Keyblades against the Heartless, destroying them with the ease of practice, but the fact it had become so easy only made them want to escape this land more, they wanted to end this pointless cycle of fighting they were in, none of them could even remember the last time they had a smile on their face, or knew if they even remembered how.

"Manami, Miku..." Daichi began once all the Heartless were killed. "I want out of this place." He said, as he did every time they finished off a pack of Heartless, a tear rolling down his face as he did.

"We know," Miku said, walking over to try and comfort him. "We will find a way out, I promise you, Daichi." She said, laying one of her hands on his shoulders.

"Uh," Manami turns and gets in her fighting poise, thinking she heard something behind her. "What is-" She breathes, and then Daichi and Miku turn to see what it is.

"Is that... What I think it is?" Daichi asks.

"Light?" Miku wonders as well. Here in The Realm of Darkness, where no light is permitted to shine, they had almost forgotten what light looked like.

"_**Come find me.**_" A voice in the light says, and then the path vanished.

"No!" All three shout in unison, their one ticket out of here, gone as fast as it appeared.

"You bet we'll find you, and when we do, we're getting out of this prison." Manami says, and both the others nod in agreement. They had a way, they weren't about to pass it up.

The three Keyblade wielders ran and sprinted, jumped and hurtled, searched and watched, desperately wanting to find the pathway of light that beckoned them to it. They searched high and low, around every corner and under every rock; still there was not even a glimmer to point them toward their pathway to freedom. There was no telling how long they had been running by the time they could run no more, and collapsed.

Breathing exceptional hard, Daichi screamed, "Where are you? Answer me, Light!" But nothing happened; they just lay there on their hands and knees, in endless darkness.

They laid there for who knows how long, waiting for the felling in their legs to return and their heart rates to regulate. They felt like giving up, feeling as though this were some sick ploy made by their imaginations, or a trick made by an unusual Heartless. Maybe what they had seen wasn't light at all, just something they had mistaken for light, something that ticked in their lost memories that reminded them of light. Whatever it was, they were becoming less and less sure it was a way out.

"Light, where are you?" Daichi whispered, still wanting to believe. They all did.

"Why must you hide? Show us yourself." Miku said.

"Don't we deserve freedom, so long trapped here?" Manami wondered.

"Please," The three said at the same time, and in answer something glimmered behind them, and the path of light appeared to them again.

"_**Come.**_" The voice said.

For a moment the three stayed still, thinking it might just vanish again, but the light stayed where it was, and they got up and walked to it, and then stood in front of it.

"_**Reach out to me.**_" The voice beckoned, and they obeyed, putting their hands to the light. "_**You have shown your light is true, and for that you have earned these gifts.**_" The voice said, and light flowed out into their hands, and a Keyblade appeared in each.

The wielders recognized the blades in their hands immediately as the ones they had in the realm of light. The appearances of their blades were similar to that of their Darkness Keyblades, and it was because these Keyblades had transformed into the ones of Darkness they had wielded since being trapped in The Realm of Darkness.

Then Heartless appeared, attracted by the light, in a want to destroy it. "Don't touch the light." Miku shouted, and the three of them took out their Keyblades of darkness to fight with as well.

"_**No, use not the Keyblades of Darkness, for what could be gained or kept by fighting Darkness with Darkness?**_" The Light told them, and they obeyed, having their Keyblades of Darkness vanish, and prepared to fend them off so they may finally leave this horrid place once and for all.


	3. Separated, Where are my Memories?

_Chapter 2: Separated, Where are my Memories?_

Manami, Miku, and Daichi started destroying the Heartless, which was difficult. Normally fending off a group of Heartless wasn't a problem, but with the light drawing them in, there were a much greater number than normal. Defeating their large numbers in itself was difficult, but making sure none of them were getting to close to the light made it even harder, distracting them for a moment of the ones behind them, giving their enemies an opening, even if only for a moment.

"Fire," Manami shouted, a small ball of fire shooting from her Keyblade and destroying a Heartless. "Blizzard, Thunder," She said using two more spells to destroy more Heartless, then slashed at one as it jumped at her from the side.

Miku flipped away from the Heartless in front of her to destroy one that was getting close to the light, then turned back and threw her Keyblade at the other Heartless, catching a couple and destroying them. "Aero," Miku shouted, making a small whirlwind to draw in some Heartless then strike down to destroy them all at once.

Daichi struck the Heartless with his great strength, destroying it in one hit, then turned to strike a few more. For him, keeping Heartless behind him was more easily performed than the others.

They continued fighting for quite some time, but the Heartless weren't dropping in number at all. Then the worst thing possible happened, the huge Heartless with the shape of a person and a hole in their chest the shape of a heart appeared, five of them. There was no way the three of them could possible fend off them along with the continually flowing smaller Heartless.

Then the Light spoke again, instructing them, "_**My light draws them, your light can stop them, use your light and put an end to them.**_" The Light told them.

All three looked over at the Light, "Our light?" Miku asked.

"_**The light buried in your hearts, forgotten in the tides of this world.**_" The Light answered. "_**Remember your light, and be free!**_" The light told them.

The three of them looked at each other, then smiled for the first time in ages. Their hearts lit. Their combined light shined greater than anything they could remember seeing before, and the Heartless all ran away to hide from the great light. When the three's light stopped shining, Daichi fell to his knee's.

"Daichi!" Miku and Manami shouted and ran to him.

"_**Great is your Darkness, and with light so bright, you burned your own heart.**_" The Light told him. "_**But fear not, your Darkness sleeps, present in your heart but not yet a threat. Keep the light close and you will not lose your way.**_

"_**Now is it time to leave, but together it shall not be.**_"

"What?" Manami said.

"_**Your separate light will lead you to separate worlds, the road is long, but light and each other wait at the end.**_" The Light answered, and two more path's of light appeared beside it.

Each one of them walked up to a different path of light. "Ready?" Miku asked the others, who nodded their heads, and they walked through their path, each winding up in separate worlds.

Daichi ended up in a strange baron world that seemed devoid of any life at all. It was pretty much a wasteland with no food or water source in sight. Also, there were signs that a huge battle had been fought here at once, slash marks everywhere, and even parts of mountains were destroyed.

"Where is this?" He asked himself, and his question echoed out into the great empty world.

The Badlands

Daichi wondered around, hoping he might find some form of life on this world, but after a while, nothing seemed to appear. Then when he had just about given up finding anything here, something appeared, but it wasn't what he was hoping for at all. Creatures appeared all around Daichi, and he quickly became surrounded.

Daichi pulled out his Keyblade of Light, Defiance. "What are these things, Heartless? No." He said, the creatures around him now were not like the Heartless. Similar maybe, but there was something different about them. It was their darkness, it wasn't as pure as the heartless's, he couldn't put his finger on it but something about them seemed more anger filled.

One of the creatures jumped at Daichi, and he dodged then countered, destroying it. "Fine, you want to fight, let's go then!" He said, and launched himself into combat.

He swung his Keyblade and killed one of the creatures, then another came up from behind and struck him while he was concentrated elsewhere, Daichi turned and killed it.

One of the flying creatures threw a fireball at Daichi, but he jumped out of the way and struck back at it. One of the larger creature's lunged at him, but he blocked it then pushed it back. Daichi struck the creature a few times before it was destroyed, then paused for a moment at it appeared he had dealt with them all for a moment.

But then even more appeared, surrounding him once again. "Dang it, there's no end to them." He thought.

"That's right, there isn't an end to them," A voice said, and a boy in a mask walked up to him past the creatures. "I can make as many of them as I want." He said.

"Who are you?" Daichi asked. Even if he hadn't said it already, Daichi could tell this boy had the same presence as the creatures, the same kind of... negativity they had.

"I could be asking you the same question. Where did you come from anyways?" The boy in the mask asked.

"That's none of your business, what is this place anyways?" Daichi asked.

"Hmpf, you mean you don't know? You have a Keyblade I see, you should know the story."

"What are you talking about, and how do you know about the Keyblade?"

"Man, you're pretty dense aren't you? If you really don't have a clue, I'll fill you in a little bit; This is the world where Keyblade wielders once waged war on each other." The boy told Daichi.

That last line ringed in Daichi's head, and he had a faint memory of being told of this before somewhere. But wait, why was it a faint memory? He had escaped the Realm of Darkness, shouldn't that have meant his memories would return?

"This is where Keyblade wielders from all over fought over the light, and shrouded the worlds in darkness." The boy said, and flashes came to Daichi's head, starting to remember the word's his old master told him. He remembered being told the story of the Keyblade War.

"Wielders of light and darkness, all in search of one, ultimate key... Kingdom Hearts." Daichi said.

"Oh, so you have heard the story, well then, I'm not going to waste my time reciting it. You not welcome here, whoever you are, I'll get rid of you here." The boy said, and a Keyblade of darkness appeared in his hand.

The boy swung down with intent to kill Daichi, but he leaped back to avoid it. "A Keyblade?"

"Don't sound so surprised, how else could I have known about this place?" The boy said, then jumped forward, slashing Daichi.

Daichi blocked the attack and swung back, but the memories coming back where putting him off, and the boy dodged with ease. The boy swung again, this time making a direct hit and knocking Daichi away.

"That all you got? You're not even worth the effort." The boy said, walking up to him and getting ready to finish him off. But as he swung down, Daichi swung violently at the boy's Keyblade, knocking it out of his hands, then kicked the boy away from him.

Daichi stood up and slapped a piece of armor on his hand, then he glowed and his entire body was wrapped in armor. Daichi threw his Keyblade up and it became a sort of glider machine, then Daichi jumped on it and opened a path into the lanes between the worlds and left the Badlands, leaving the boy in the mask alone.

"Hm, that wasn't a bad look he had." The boy thought to himself as an old man walked up behind him...


	4. A familiar Radiance

_Chapter 3: A Familiar Radiance _

Manami appeared in the middle of a garden once she went through her gate of light. It was so bright here she had to shield her eyes at first so they could adjust after being in darkness for so long. She looked around, and everything seemed very peaceful. Behind her was a city, and in the city, a castle with a strange light of its own towered over.

"Finally out, finally free." She said to herself with a smile, and walked toward the city.

Radiant Garden

Manami walked into the city and looked around, for the moment no one was around. She figured for now it would be good not to be noticed, although she wondered why she came here, to this world. She didn't remember ever being here before the Realm of Darkness... then it hit her. She hadn't regained the memories she lost in the Realm of Darkness. But why hadn't she was the question, she had figured that if she were to escape the Realm of Darkness, her memories would just come back. But it looked like it would be harder than that.

Then Manami heard someone coming her way and ducked behind a tree almost as an instinct, then peeked around the edge to see who it was. She saw a couple of boys walking past. One had spiky red hair, and was wearing a red vest with a white undershirt, along with a gold-yellow handkerchief around his neck. The other had blue hair and wore a blue jacket that had a crescent moon on it.

As they past Manami overheard some of their conversation. "Remind me again why you want to sneak into Ansem the Wise' castle, Lea." The boy with blue hair said.

"'Ansem the Wise'?" Manami whispered to herself as she heard the name.

"Come on Isa, You've got to be curious about what he does in there all day. I mean he's got security guards up there, for crying out loud. He's got to have something super cool hidden in there! And how awesome would it be if we found out what it was?" The boy called Lea replied.

"I'm going to get dragged along either way, so I might as well just agree." Isa said.

"Alright! Let's get going then." Lea said, and started to run off.

"H-hey, slow down." Isa called and ran after him.

When they were gone, Manami came out from behind the tree. "Ansem the Wise, why does that name sound familiar?" She asked herself and looked in the direction the two boys ran off. "Guess it's worth looking into." She decided, and walked in the direction the boys went.

The next area she found herself walking through was a sort of garden. The trees and flourishing plants made her feel at ease, and after taking it in for a moment, she saw the two boys, Lea and Isa, heading up toward a castle. She began to follow but then creatures appeared and started running toward the castle.

If they were Heartless, they weren't ones she had ever seen in the Realm of Darkness. Either way these creatures definitely looked dangerous, so Manami ran up in front of them and took out her Keyblade of light, Diamond Vein.

"Not so fast, you aren't going one step farther." She told them, and the creatures began to attack her.

"Fire," Manami called as one creature approached her, destroying it before it had a chance to attack her. Another one leaped at her and attacked from her side, and she turned on one foot to move out of the way, then slashed down on it to kill it.

Then she noticed another one behind her, and turned slashing, catching it with her Keyblade and destroying it as well. However, by turning so suddenly, she left herself open as a flying creature behind her surrounded its body with thunder magic and tackled her, knocking her off balance for a moment as it turned around and struck her a second time. But the third time it came around Manami was able to jump out of the way.

"Like thunder do you?" She asked, and followed up by using her own thunder magic on it, knocking it down to the ground and leaving it open for her to finish off with her Keyblade.

Just when she thought she had finished them all off, another group appeared around her. One of the creatures jumped out of the ground just in front of her, and sprayed a poison gas from it, and Manami was just barely able to get out of the way. "Eat fire," She called, sending out a ball of fire magic to engulf and destroy the plant-like creature.

Just then, one of the large round creatures, flew by, blowing the air out of its hollow body, and missed Manami by chance, but then swirled around back at her, and she dived to the side to avoid it. The creature re-inflated itself, but left its back open, and Manami attacked it repeatedly, and destroyed it.

She turned just in time to see both the other round creatures flying at her, and then dodged one and blocked the other, then attacked it twice before a hawk creature swoop down from behind and attacked her. Before it flew away, Manami jumped and attacked it twice to destroy it. Afterward she went back and slashed the large creature twice more from behind to destroy it, which left one more of the large creatures.

Manami attacked the large creature 3 times and suddenly the creature glowed red and rolled at her. She tried attacking a few more times, but it no longer seemed to be taking damage. She ran to the side and the creature slowly rolled around at her, but self-destructed before it could reach her again. After waiting a moment, it finally looked like she had destroyed them all, and began heading for the castle again.

when she began to approach the castle, she saw Lea and Isa arguing with a couple of strong looking men, which she guessed were the security guard they had mentioned earlier. Ignoring them for a moment, she looked up at the marvelous castle, which really seemed to have its own certain radiance that set it apart from everything else.

Suddenly the castle seemed very familiar to Manami, and she tried to think of where she had seen it before. Perhaps she really had been to this world before she became trapped in the realm of Darkness, and maybe she really knew this, "Ansem the Wise". And if that were true, maybe he could help her remember things about her past.

"You win this time," Lea shouted at the guards. "But next time I won't let you off so easy! Let's go Isa." He said as he and Isa ran past Manami and away from the castle.

"Kids these days, what's wrong with those two?" The guard holding a spear said.

"Someone else is coming." The other guard holding a strange sword said as Manami came closer, still looking up at the castle while trying to remember who Ansem really was.

"Halt" The first guard told her as she got closer, and she looked back at them. "What business do you have here?"

"I, well... um..." Manami stuttered, not sure what to say. "I-I'm looking for Ansem the Wise, he's here right?" She responded finally.

The two guards looked at each other, then back at Manami. "You are an acquaintance of the Lord, then?" The first guard asked.

"Well, I..." Manami couldn't answer.

"No? Then why are you looking for him?" The first guard said.

"I'm asking myself the same question." Manami answered.

"What des that mean?" The first guard asked, he seemed to do most the talking.

"I'm having trouble remembering some things, and I'm hoping he can help me fill in the blanks."

"You have amnesia?"

"Pretty much, my name's Manami."

The two guards exchanged glances again and nodded, then the second guard turned and entered the castle. "Wait here, Aeleus will see if the Lord does indeed know of you."

"Thank you." Manami said.

After a while, the gate to the castle opened again. "Imposter!" Aeleus shouted as he came out. "Dylan, the Lord says the last time he spoke with women named Manami was nearly 10 year ago. This cannot be the same person!"

"What, but that can't be right." Manami said, backing away.

"Leave now or we will remove you with force." Aeleus told her.

Frightened by what she just heard, she turned and ran away from the castle as fast as she could, and as soon as she was out of sight, collapsed on the ground.

"It can't be, 10 years? I was in the Realm of Darkness for 10 years?" She was shocked, and after pulling herself together a little bit, she hit the armor that lay on her waist, and pulled out Diamond Vein, throwing it upward as it turned into a glider that she hopped on and left this world.


	5. Is This Home?

_Chapter 4: Is This Home?_

As Miku emerged from her gate of light, she found herself in a world that had a floating golden castle in it that looked as if it would float away if not for the giant chains linking it to the ground. When Miku looked upon the castle, she asked herself a question without even thinking about it. "Is this... home?" And it was only after asking the question that she realized what she was thinking at all. Now that the question had been posed, she had to go and find out if it were true, and with that in mind, she ran for the castle.

Land of Departure

Miku almost felt dumb as she walked through the abandoned halls of the castle she thought might be her home. For such a large castle, and for one so beautifully preserved, there wasn't yet a person in sight. She thought of calling out for help, but if no one answered, she would feel even more dumb, and she was also afraid she might get an answer from someone she didn't want to meet.

Miku was about to turn a corner when suddenly she heard footsteps, freezing at the sound, both hopeful and fearful. "So, What do you make of Ventus?" The voice of an old man sounded.

"He ain't gonna' cut it. Somebody's got to brake that loser in." Another, younger voice replied.

"Not here you won't!" The first voice warned. "I have to keep up appearances."

"I know that." The other voice replied. "He just needs a little incentive to leave home."

Then Miku heard the pairs footsteps coming toward her, and the conversation they just had frightened her. Quite frankly, everything frightened Miku right now; without her memories she was like a lost puppy wondering the streets in a thunderstorm. Before her legs froze completely with fear, Miku walked as quickly and as quietly as she could so she wouldn't be found.

Miku ran through the castle, not knowing where she was going anymore, moreover, she didn't understand why she hadn't left this place yet, despite her original thought of this being her home world, she was more afraid of this castle than she was happy to see it. She hadn't even remembered anything about this world so far, none of her memories had returned.

All of a sudden a loud bell sounded, as if it were an alarm, and without knowing anything about this world, she could only assume that meant one thing; She had been discovered as an intruder. thinking that, Miku now completely wanted out of this world, and ran for the castle's front gate. The alarm didn't seem last very long, but Miku's heart was still racing as she reach the front gate, however, when she looked outside, she four people, and ducked back around the corner.

She saw one of the men suddenly wearing a suit of armor that was not unlike her own. What was more he then summoned a Keyblade and turned it into a glider, then left the world his own. The younger boy the did the very same thing and left as well.

"No, he mustn't!" The old man yelled as the young man left. "You have to bring him back!" He then told the young women.

"Don't worry, Master!" The women replied before using her own armor and Keyblade glider to leave the world and chase after the boy.

"Master... Eraqus." Miku whispered to herself, and it was not a question, in the scraps of memories she had left, she had this man's face with that name pinned on it. It was now undeniable, this was Miku's home!

Master Eraqus turned around to go back into the castle and saw Miku approaching him. "Master... Eraqus," She said when she came up to Eraqus.

At first Master Eraqus looked puzzled. "Who are-" He began but then recognized her. "Miku, is that you?" He asked.

A tear appeared in Miku's eye at being recognized. "Yes, it's me... I'm finally back."

"But... how could this be possible?" Eraqus asked suddenly, confusing Miku. "How do you the exactly the same? You disappeared almost 10 years ago." Eraqus said, and Miku went wide-eyed with shock.

Miku began to back away with disbelief. "No... no, no, no! That's not possible; I know I was gone a long time... but 10 years? that's just not possible."

"It's true Miku, I don't understand it either, but it's great that you've returned. We may need your help." Eraqus said.

Miku waited to calmed down before replying. "Help with what?"

"The Princesses of Heart are in danger." Eraqus said, and images began flowing through Miku's head.

_Princesses of Heart, I can remember my master talking to us about them. Pure hearts of light/ _Then something dawned on her. "My master! Where is my master?" Miku asked, still unable to remember his name.

"Master Xehanort is not here, he vanished some time ago, and I have not been able to contact him." Eraqus explained.

"Master... Xehanort?" Miku repeated the name.

"Don't you remember?"

"No, I don't, I've lost all my memories, or the majority of them anyways. I had to try extremely hard just so I remembered who I was."

"Well then come inside, I'll help you remember everything." Eraqus told Miku, trying to lead her back to the castle.

However, Miku resisted, rather than going with Master Eraqus. "Wait! I still need to find Daichi and Manami." Miku said, looking around as if they might be nearby somehow.

"Daichi and Manami are back as well? Where are they? Why aren't they with you?"

"I don't know where they are, we all got separated. I need to find them, I need to go and find them." Miku said.

"But Miku, you need to calm down first, you need to remember your former life before you do anything else." Eraqus argued, but then strange creatures appeared around the two of them. "The Unversed!" Master Eraqus said as he took out his Keyblade.

Miku also took out her Keyblade of light, Cosmic Halo. "What are Unversed?" She asked.

"These are the creatures endangering the Princesses of Heart I spoke of, we must strike them down." Eraqus answered, and quickly began eliminating the creatures called Unversed.

Miku helped out, but with Master Eraqus' great power, he took most of them out all on his own. Miku was in so much turmoil that she felt like she did even less than she normally would.

When all the Unversed were destroyed, Eraqus walked back over to Miku. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine, but I need to go find Daichi and Manami, I can't just sit here and do nothing while their out there somewhere." Miku answered.

"I understand how you feel Miku, but try to understand the situation you're in right now. You have become to fragile without your memories; you need to take the time to remember everything before you go off to other worlds, in order to strengthen yourself both mentally and physically." Master Eraqus tried to reason with Miku.

"I'm sorry, Master Eraqus, but this can't wait." Miku said and hit the piece of armor on her chest so that a suit of armor surrounded her body, then turned her Keyblade into a glider and made a path to another world before Eraqus could stop her. "I have to find them, I have to find them." Miku told herself as she headed toward a new world, and away from her home.


	6. My Master

_Chapter 5: My Master_

After running from the boy in the mask, Daichi stopped at a world to sort through the memories he was beginning to regain. After a minute he stood up and looked around the world he landed in. He was in front of a very dark and mysterious castle that looked like it was made for some sort of evil witch. At the point this was the only thing in sight, so Daichi decided to start looking around here, and entered the castle.

Enchanted Dominion

When Daichi entered the castle he found strange, pig like creatures holding weapons. When the pigs saw Daichi, they immediately charged at him, and in response, Daichi took out his Keyblade. As the pigs approached, Daichi slashed down on them, and they vanished in green flames. The Pig creatures were numerous, but overall easy to defeat, and it didn't take long for Daichi to clear them all out.

"What kind of world is this?" Daichi wondered as he began heading deeper into the castle.

The farther into the castle Daichi went, the more feeling he had that he should turn around and go back, but he felt he needed to be here for some reason. Every room Daichi entered had more of those pig creature guards around, and each time Daichi fought and defeated them all, then proceeded through the castle.

Finally Daichi came across a room that looked like a Throne Room. He was about to go farther but then he noticed some people coming in from an entrance on the opposite side of the room and Daichi hid behind a corner. He couldn't make out a lot of what they were saying, but he did catch one sentence at the end.

"And remember, Ventus is to be left unharmed, he is a very important piece to this puzzle." As Daichi looked around the corner, he saw the one who spoke was an old man. The one he was talking to had a green sort of complexion to her skin and was dressed in black robes.

"Who are these people?" Daichi asked himself.

Daichi watched the two as they continued the conversation quietly, then after a moment Daichi realized he was subconsciously focusing on the old man, and just as he realized that, images of the man and himself flowed through his head.

"Wh-what..." Daichi said as he realized the images were his lost memories.

Daichi slowly began to understand that the images of him and the old man meant that he knew the man from somewhere, and that perhaps he could help him. But before that he tried to pin a name to the man's face. He searched the memories that were flowing back for the name that belonged to him; then he realized who the man was to him.

This old man was Daichi's former master. For a moment he wasn't sure whether or not it could be true, but he soon realized it had to be true, there was no other explanation. Just then the women in the black vanished in green flames, and Daichi noticed the old man look toward Daichi, and Daichi ducked behind the corner instinctively.

"I know you're there, come on out." The man said, and Daichi did so realizing he had no reason to hide from him in the first place.

"Master?" Daichi spoke the single world, and startled the old man for a moment.

"Who are you, to call me/" The Old man began, but then realized who the person he was speaking to was. "Daichi, is that you?" The man asked.

"Yes, so it's true then, you are my master?" Daichi asked in reply.

"That is correct, but... How is it possible, you vanished all that time ago." The old man wondered.

"I was thrown into the realm of Darkness, it took a long time, but I finally found my way out. Miku and Manami also got out, although I'm not sure where they are right now." Daichi said.

"Miku and Manami! They are alive as well?" The man asked.

"Yes, master, we were separated, and now I'm searching for them. Would you help me?" Daichi asked.

"Help, oh no, I'm afraid I have important business to attend to at the moment."

"Important?" Daichi thought of what he saw in the last world he was in. "Could it have to do with those weird creatures and that boy in the mask?"

"Creatures, you mean you have seen the unversed already?"

"Unversed? Is that what they're called?"

"Yes, and you mentioned a boy in a mask?"

"Right, I encountered and fought him in the Keyblade Graveyard."

"Really, interesting."

"But before we go on, I have lost much of my memory, and it has not returned despite returning to the Realm of Light." Daichi told his master.

"You lost your memory? But you remembered me." The man said, and Daichi shook his head in response.

"I only remember that you are my master, other than that, you are a stranger to me right now. I do not even recall your name."

"My name is Xehanort.

"Xehanort..." Daichi repeated.

"Now let me ask you... does this mean you do not remember anything about the incident in which you disappeared either?"

"That is correct." Daichi answered, and Xehanort grinned.

"Well, that is alright, you probably don't want to remember such a tragic event anyways. The important thing for you right now is that you find Miku and Manami. Finding them is important for you I can tell, and along the way you may restore more of your lost memory." Xehanort told Daichi.

"Of course, master."

"Now as I said I have important business to attend to, so I cannot stay with you, but when you find your friends, come find me again." Xehanort instructed Daichi.

"But wait, I just found you again, how can you think of separating already?" Daichi asked his master.

"It is more important that you can reunite with your friends Daichi, they are closer to you than I am, and after 10 years of you three missing..." Xehanort said and his voice began to trail off to Daichi.

Daichi became transfixed on the words 'after 10 years' thinking that is was impossible for him to have really been trapped in the Realm of Darkness for 10 years.

"Daichi, Daichi!" Xehanort snapped Daichi back to reality. "Is something the matter?"

"Did you just say... that I've been gone for 10 years?" Daichi asked breathlessly.

"Yes, and I am clueless as to how you have not changed in appearance at all in that time."

"10 years... 10 years I was trapped in the realm of darkness, I can't believe it." Daichi felt like he was about to fall over.

"I understand how you feel Daichi. That's why it is so important that you find Miku and Manami, they need to hear this as well if they haven't figured it out already."

"Of course..." Daichi replied, still a little uneasy. "Yes, yes, you're right, I have to find them!" Daichi exclaimed and ran off, leaving his master once again.

Once Daichi got out of the castle, he put on his armor and embarked for another world to try and find Miku and Manami, an all too important task he needed to accomplish now. They needed to know where, or rather when they were.


	7. Instictive Memories

_Chapter 6: Instinctive Memories_

After running from Master Eraqus to go search for Daichi and Manami, Miku landed in a new world. She found herself in a shady forest to start, but in her critical emotional state, she wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings. "Daichi! Manami!" Miku called out, hoping her friends would be somewhere nearby and return her call, but no such luck occurred. "Please, be somewhere." She hoped and ran off toward a forest to search for them.

Dwarf Woodlands

"Manami! Daichi!" Miku called as she searched through the forest, but still no one responded. "Am I... just wasting my time?" Miku asked herself.. "Maybe I should have listened to Master Eraqus and stayed at home." She thought and turned, planning to return just as she heard a group of screams coming from beyond the woods. "What was that?" She wondered, and ran in the direction the screams came.

Coming out of the woods, she found a group of dwarfs surrounded by the Unversed, along with a young boy in a mask, who suddenly vanished in darkness. "Hey, hold it right there!" Miku yelled after the boy, but he was already gone. Not a moment past before Miku turned to the Unversed surrounding the dwarfs. "Go hide, I'll take care of them." She told them, taking out her Keyblade and prepared to fight.

Focusing on the task at hand, Miku struck down the Unversed as they jumped at her, and made short work of them, only to have more of them appear in their place. Some of the flying Unversed shot fire at her, but she rolled out of the way, then swung her Keyblade at them, destroying them both at the same time.

Miku turned to see one of the larger Unversed running toward her, but she blocked and swiftly cut it down. Then she waited as a few of the smaller Unversed came at her from all sides, and once they got close she cast a thunder spell to catch them all at once, then saw the last one at her side and threw her Keyblade at it, finishing the battle.

When the fight was over, she suddenly realized that she just fought all of the Unversed like an old pro, not so much as batting an eye, even though back when she fought them with Master Eraqus, she did almost nothing, and felt utterly useless. She almost couldn't believe how well she fended off all the Unversed on her own, and just stood there for a moment until she saw the Dwarfs come out from hiding.

"That was amusing! I mean amazing!" one of them told Miku.

"Don't worry about it, but I wonder if you all could help me out." Miku told them as she picked up her Keyblade. "You see, I'm looking for my friends, and I can't seem to find them, you guys haven't seen anyone named Manami or Daichi have you?" She asked.

"Hey! We can't be wasting time here, we got diamonds to mine!" Another of the dwarfs yelled angrily.

"But the path to mines are now infested with those features- I mean creatures." the first argued. "But perhaps you could help us out." He asked Miku.

"I'd be glad to help you, but could you answer my question first? Have you seen anyone named Manami or Daichi?"

"No, haven't met anyone by those names." He replied. "But if you stick around a mile, I mean awhile, maybe they'll show up."

"Yeah, so why don't you quit standing there and get to clearing a path to the mines!" The other griped.

"Right," Miku agreed, heading down the road toward the mines.

Almost the moment Miku arrived on the path,, unversed appeared and attacked her, but retaliated and destroyed them as they came close. Miku could feel strength flowing through her as she began to fight, and was quickly striking down the unversed.

When one of the flying unversed cast a fire spell at her, she ran out of the way, jumped off a wall and struck it to the ground, then stabbed it once more to finish it off. Then she noticed two of the top-like unversed coming at her from opposite sides, and she span around to catch one and throw it into the other, destroying them both.

"Fire," Miku called and shot a fire spell at one of the large unversed, following up with a jump slash at it to finish it off. Then one of the smaller unversed caught her off guard from behind, but she quickly recovered and swung back to destroy it.

As Miku continued to fend off the unversed, she kept realizing more and more that she must be fighting this way off instinct. That all this was were memories stuck in the back of her head about how to fight pulling themselves out to protect herself. Even though she had done a lot of fighting while stuck in the Realm of Darkness, this current state of power was much greater than anything she could remember having before. In almost no time at all Miku had cleared the pathway to the mines for the Dwarfs, and she headed back to give them the O.K. to go on ahead.

"Okay, you're path's all clear." Miku told them all.

"Thank you very much." Doc told her.

"I say you could've been quicker though!" Grumpy complained.

"Well, we'd best get to fork- I mean work." Doc said, and the seven of them marched off to the mines.

"Still no sign of Manami or Daichi." Miku noted as she decided to try and look around a little more before leaving.

After going back through the forest, Miku found herself in a wonderful flower field where she saw a beautiful young girl picking flowers. "Excuse me," Miku called to the girl.

"Hello there." The girl greeted Miku. "Who might you be?"

"My name's Miku." Miku told her.

"It's nice to meet you Miku, my name's Snow White." Snow White replied.

"I'm wondering if you can help me, I'm looking for my friends. They're names are Daichi and Manami, have you seen them?"

"No, I don't believe I've heard either of those names before."

"Oh, I see." Miku said in sadness. "I guess they aren't here after all."

"Oh, don't look so depressed, they may not be here, but your friends are always with you in your heart.." Snow White told Miku.

After thinking about it a moment, Miku picked up her head and smiled. "Thank you, I needed that."

"Don't mention it, I hope you find them soon though."

"I do too, it's really important I find them before it's too late." Miku said.

"Did something bad happen to them?" Snow White asked.

"Well no, it's just that we've been lost a long time now, right now we really only have each other to depend on." Miku explained.

"Well then, good luck to you in your search." Snow White said.

"Well, bye then, and thanks again." Miku said as she turned and walked away.

Once out of sight, Miku employed her armor and glider so she could leave this world in search of her friend, but just like Snow White had said, the two of them were always in her heart. She also wanted to believe what the light told her back in the Realm of Darkness; that light and each other waited at the end of their journeys.


	8. Dreaming of the Past

_Chapter 7: Dreaming of the Past_

After hearing the shocking news that she had been trapped in the Realm of Darkness for ten years, Manami found refuge on another world. She was in a sort of forest, and in the distance she saw a glorious white castle that when she looked at it, she forgot all her problems for a moment.

"I wonder if anyone here knows me?" Manami asked herself and began to walk toward the castle.

Castle of Dreams

Manami walked through gates that lead to the courtyard of the castle. After taking another moment to admire it, she walked toward it, but stopped at the sight of portal of darkness appearing in front of the castle. A boy in a mask walked out of it, looking suspicious.

"Who is that? A strong darkness surrounds him." She noted to herself.

The boy held up his hand, and suddenly a bunch of creature appeared around him. Manami gasped at the sight of the creatures, as she realized they were the same kind as those she fought at Radiant Garden.

"Now go, spread darkness throughout this world." The boy said, and in response Manami rushed up to him.

"Hold it right there!" She yelled at the boy, revealing her Keyblade. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me who you are."

"Oh, another with a Keyblade?" The boy said. "Wonder if it's just a coincidence."

"'Another'?" Manami repeated.

"Yeah, ran into guy with a Keyblade a little while ago." The boy replied.

"Was- was it Daichi?" Manami asked him.

"Didn't catch his name, he seemed pretty clueless as to where he was though." The boy replied, and Manami knew it must have been Daichi.

"What did you do to him?"

"Not much, tossed him around a bit. Then he ran away like a scared kid."

"You monster! Don't think I'll let you get by with trying to spread darkness through this world." Manami shouted, then cast a thunder spell, destroying all the creature around the boy.

"Hm, not bad, but you'll need more than that to beat me." The boy said, revealing his Keyblade of Darkness, and attacking Manami.

Manami blocked then jumped back. "A Keyblade of Darkness?"

"That's right,, now time for you to die." The boy said, slashing at Manami again.

Manami jumped strait up to dodge the strike, then slashed down on him, but was avoided easily. "Not yet, blizzard." Manami said as she cast an ice spell at her opponent, but he jumped to the side and struck Manami once more quickly, knocking her down.

Manami rose to her feet. "Not yet huh?" The boy said then swung his Keyblade and sent a wave of fire magic at her, catching her too fast for her to dodge, and she fell to her knee. "Well, you seem to be keeping your cool better than the other guy, but in comparison of strength, I'd have to say you falling behind a little behind." The boy told Manami as more creatures appeared beside him. "Finish her off." He said, then stepped back and vanished in darkness.

"Wait!" Manami shouted after him, but he was already gone and his creatures gave her more things to worry about right now.

Although weakened, Manami stood up to fend off the creatures, soon defeating them, but with quite a bit of trouble in her weakened state. She fell to the ground once she finished, no longer able to withstand the pain.

"Oh my, what's happened here?" Manami heard a voice say just before drifting into unconsciousness, and in her sleep, she began dreaming.

_"Miku! Daichi!" Manami called her friends as she ran up the hill to meet them._

_ "About time you showed up, did you get lost?" Daichi asked her._

_ "Ha ha, very funny Daichi." Manami replied, and the two of them laughed._

_ "Come on guys, The Master will be here soon, let's not kid around too much." Miku warned them._

_ "Oh come on, don't worry so much Miku." Manami said._

_ "Hey, here's an idea, wanna get an early start on training?" Daichi asked._

_ "Sure," Miku replied._

_ "Sounds good to me." Manami agreed, and the three took out their Keyblades._

_ "Don't be in such a rush, I'm already here you three." Their master said as he reached the top of the hill._

_ The three of them then lined up to greet their teacher. "Master Xehanort!" They said together as he stopped in front of them._

_ "Do try to relax, I have some good news to share with you all. You have all been cleared for the Mark of Mastery exam."_

_ "Really!" Miku asked, all three of them getting excited._

_ "Yes, it is a big step forward, and even more so because all three of you could become Keyblade masters, doubling our current number." Xehanort said._

Then Manami woke up, and found herself lying on a bed in a small room. "Oh, are you awake?" A girl asked Manami, who was dressed in a kind of apron looking dress.

"Who are you?" Manami asked, sitting herself up.

"I'm Cinderella. When I found you collapsed outside the palace, I couldn't just leave you, so I brought you back to my house until you woke up. Now may I ask what happened to you out there?" Cinderella explained.

"That's... a little difficult." Manami replied.

"Well can I at least ask your name?"

"I'm Manami. Listen, I thank you for taking care of me while I was asleep, but I have to go soon. I'm looking for some friends." Manami told Cinderella.

"Oh of course, it's probably best you leave before my Step-mother gets home anyways, she doesn't like visitors in the house." Cinderella said, and lead Manami outside the house, which turned out to be a mansion.

"Thank you again for your help, Cinderella." Manami said.

"Don't mention it, and I hope you find your friends." Cinderella replied as she waved goodbye.

"This world is in danger, and that boy is the cause." Manami said to herself, thinking about the boy in the mask that summoned the creatures. "I might be able to save this world if I beat him." She thought, then employed her armor and turned her Keyblade into a glider, and left the world.

**(Author's Note: Starting next chapter I will begin using the given names for each Unversed rather than just referring to them "big", "small", ect. creature.)**


	9. Getting Direction

_Chapter 8: Getting Direction_

After leaving Master Xehanort to search for Miku and Manami, Daichi landed on a world in which he found himself in the forest near a small house. He then saw seven dwarfs and a beautiful young girl. The girl kissed the seven dwarfs on their heads, and then bid them goodbye on their way to work, leaving her by herself. Hoping she might have some information on Miku or Manami, he walked up to her.

Dwarf Woodlands

"Excuse me, miss?" Daichi asked the young girl as he walked up to her. "Could I ask for a moment of your time?"

"Of course, my name's Snow White. How can I help you?" The girl replied.

"You see, I'm looking for a couple of my friends, have you seen anyone strange around lately?"

In response, Snow White gasped. "Would you by any chance be Daichi?"

"Wait, how do you know of me?" Daichi asked.

"It just so happens that I ran into Miku a while ago, she told me she was looking for you." Snow White explained.

"Is Miku still here?"

"Well, I'm not sure, she left soon after I met her, but I suppose she could still be at the castle if you want to go looking for her."

"I need to find her as soon as possible, if there is a chance she's still here, I need to make sure." Daichi said, and then suddenly his thought was interrupted by the appearance of the unversed.

"Oh, it's those creatures again!" Snow White shouted in terror as she ran inside the house.

"Unversed, at least there don't seem to be that many this time." Daichi said as he took out his Keyblade, and struck down a Flood.

Daichi caught one of the Scrappers with his Keyblade and then threw it into one of the Bruisers, destroy it and leaving the Bruiser open as Daichi stabbed it once more to finish it. As their number were few this time, Daichi managed to finish off the unversed fairly quickly.

"Miku... please still be here." Daichi said aloud and ran toward the castle.

When Daichi arrived at the castle, he saw a door that lead into a sort of dungeon for the castle, and soon after entering the dungeons, Daichi found himself surrounded by more unversed. "Here too?" He asked himself and took out his Keyblade.

One of the Shoegazers jumped on Daichi, but he managed to block it then throw it into a couple of Thornbites, destroying them. Then Daichi turned and attacked a Bruiser a few times to kill it just as a Red Hot Chili hit him from behind with a fire spell, and was sending another at him, but he blocked the second one and leaped at it to smash it to the ground and destroy it.

The number of unversed only seemed to increase as Daichi found his way through the dungeon, and with the numbers fighting his way through become more and more difficult. When Daichi found himself in a large area deep in the dungeon in front of a huge doorway, he was suddenly surrounded by a great number of Monotruckers, and they all began attacking him at once. Daichi jumped over them as they got close to get himself in a better position, then turned and swiped three of the unversed at once, destroying them all. Then as two more came at him from the side, he stabbed through one, but got hit by the other, but quickly countered to destroy it as well.

Next thing Daichi knew, the other Monotruckers left were each almost taking turns trying to attack him, making it even more difficult to destroy them. Every chance he saw through his frantic dodging, he would strike one down, and each one destroyed made it easier, and soon there were only a few left, and he made short work of them. Unfortunately, just like always, more Unversed appeared in the wake of the last group.

"Why can't it ever be easy?" Daichi asked himself as he charged at a Bruiser and struck a few times to kill it, then jumped back to avoid another that was coming from the side.

Then a couple Scrappers came at him, but Daichi blocked them both then retaliated with a strong slash to destroy them both. After destroying a few more of the unversed, it appeared that he finally finished them off for now.

"Still no sign of Miku." Daichi noted and walked through the next doorway.

Daichi found himself in a small room, and when he turned the corner, he saw a women who appeared to be the queen of this castle. She was talking to herself in front of a mirror. "Curses!" She yelled

"Is something the matter?" Daichi asked, startling the queen for a moment.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The queen demanded an answer.

"I was looking for a friend, Miku, and thought she might be somewhere in here." Daichi replied.

"No one by that name has been to this castle. Now I would bid your leave." The queen told Daichi angrily.

Daichi sighed. "Are you sure you don't have any idea where I could find her?" Daichi asked hopefully.

The Queen seemed to consider Daichi's question, then replied, "I could ask my magic mirror where you might find this Miku. But first you would need to do something for me."

"Of course, what is it you want me to do?" Daichi asked.

"I am looking for a girl, a certain young girl who has run off somewhere. Her name is Snow White." The Queen told Daichi.

"Snow White, I've met her already." Daichi told the Queen.

"Oh, then you know where to find her, good. What I want you to do is go find her again and kill her." The Queen said.

Daichi was surprised at her demand. "Kill her, why would you want to do something like that?" He questioned.

"The reasons are none of your concern, if you want my help to find your dear friend you will do as I say!" The Queen replied.

"No," Daichi told the Queen.

"Excuse me!" The Queen shouted back.

"Your heart is tainted with darkness, Snow White's heart was pure and kind. Even if you don't help me, I will not do as you say." Daichi told the Queen.

The Queen grew even angrier with this. "Yet another defies me... Magic Mirror, do your duty; fight this fool and keep him busy!" The queen shouted toward her mirror, and a face appeared on the mirror, which then glowed and Daichi was sucked into it.

"What- what happened?" Daichi asked, but then saw that he was facing the spirit of the magic mirror. The spirit attacked Daichi, and in haste Daichi jumped to the side to avoid it, pulling out his Keyblade at the same time. "Fine, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."

Daichi charged at the Mirror, striking it a few times and knocking it down, then jumping and stabbing down on top of it, but then the Mirror flipped up and knocked Daichi back, then faded into the floor, followed by tons of the Mirror's face coming back up in a pair of lines on each side of him. He tried attacking one of them, but it didn't have affect, and he realized only one of these faces were real.

The multiple faces began throwing fire magic at Daichi, and he had to run down to the line to keep from being hit. As he ran, he tried to find the real Mirror, but the faces all faded into the floor before he did, the single face coming back out in front of him, hitting him with fire magic. Daichi got to his feet quickly and struck the Mirror hard, then again from behind to knock it down again, and watched it fade into the floor again. This time the multiple faces appeared in a circle surrounding Daichi. As the faces circled Daichi, he found one that looked different, and knew that it was the real spirit.

Daichi then ran for the real Mirror as fast he could, meanwhile dodging the fire magic flying from the fake Mirrors. Once he reached the real Mirror, He pounded it with a strong combo, knocking it back. Then the Mirror retaliated with more fire magic, but this time Daichi managed to dodge it, then run in for one more strong jab at the Mirror before it faded into the ground once more, many faces rising in lines beside him again.

Daichi quickly found the real Mirror now that he knew what he was looking for, and struck it quickly to make the other faces vanish, then made one more combo on the Mirror to finish it off. "Take that," Daichi said, then was transported out of the Mirror's realm to find himself in the room again, but now the Queen was gone.

The Spirit's face appeared on the mirror again, but this time not to attack. "You've missed your chance, Your friend is no longer here. But at a castle that lights the night, she can be found near." The mirror told Daichi.

"Thank you," Daichi said simply before leaving, then Employing his armor and glider to leave this world to find the world the mirror spoke of.


	10. To Fight Another Day

_Chapter 9: To Fight Another Day_

After being unable to find Daichi or Manami in the previous world, Miku left and found herself on a new world where she found herself first in a forest glen. Looking around, she noticed two castles to either end of the forest. One was white and inviting while the other looked ancient and horrible. Miku was just about to go toward the white castle when the unversed appeared around her.

"Here too?" She asked herself as she pulled out her Keyblade, preparing to fight them off.

Enchanted Dominion

Miku began striking down the unversed, first killing a flood, then a Bruiser as it came at her with a few strikes. Then as a pair of Thornbites approached, Then Miku cast thunder to destroy a few Archraven and a red hot chili.

As the unversed kept coming, Miku felt that fighting them was getting more difficult each time she ran into them. By the time she finished off all the unversed in the area, she was a bit worn out.

"Hello again." Someone called from behind Miku, startling her as he turned around to see who it was. The man was wearing brown garments with a red cape, and held a sword and shield.

"Who are you?" Miku asked as he approached.

The man stopped and looked at Miku's face. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was expecting someone else, I am Prince Phillip."

"My name's Miku, Who were you looking for?"

"A beautiful girl with long golden hair and lips as red as the roses. She told me to meet her here in the glen, but it appears she has not arrived yet."

"Oh, well would it be alright if I helped you look for her, I'm searching for my friends too, so I wouldn't be going out of my way." Miku said.

"Really, would you, that would be/" The man began but they were interrupted by strange, pig-like creatures jumping up all around and attacking them.

"What the, are these things unversed?" Miku wondered, but these things were probably inhabitants of this world.

Miku and Phillip tried to fend off the creatures, but with Miku already tired from fighting the unversed and the suddenness of the attack, the two of them were captured quickly and bound by ropes.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I set my trap for a peasant, and I catch a prince." Someone said, and then a women in a black dress holding a scepter walked up to Miku and Phillip. "Oh, and who do we have here?" The women asked, looking at Miku. "Well, out with it, who are you?" She asked once more.

Reluctantly Miku answered. "My name is Miku."

"Miku you say? Interesting, Take the Prince away; but bring the girl to me, I have something I'd like to speak with her about." The women told her minions and vanished in green flames.

The creatures she controlled then began pushing Miku and Phillip toward the ancient castle in the distance. When they approached the border to the castle, a wall of green flames stood in there way, but soon separated to let them through.

"Who was that women?" Miku asked Phillip.

"That was Maleficent, and evil witch that rules in the Dark Mountain." Phillip answered.

"What does she want with you, also, do you have any idea what she wants to speak with me about?"

"I have no idea, but neither can possibly be good."

"I promise, once I get a chance to escape I'll get us out of here."

After arriving at the castle, the creatures took Phillip and Miku two different directions. The creatures proceeded to taking Miku into a throne room, where Maleficent was waiting for her, and the creature left Miku with Maleficent.

Maleficent walked up to Miku. "Now then, tell me who you are." She demanded.

"My name is Miku, I've already told you that." Miku replied.

"That is not what I mean, impudent child! Why do you possess the Keyblade?" Maleficent asked, motioning at the weapon Miku still clutched in her hand.

Miku backed away in surprise. "How do you know about the Keyblade?"

"That man told me of it's power, however, he did not mention you." Maleficent answered.

"Who told you about the Keyblade?"

"He called himself Xehanort."

"Xehanort? But-"

"Oh, so you do know of him, I wonder why then, he did not mention you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Xehanort told me of many things relative to his plans and the Keyblade. He told me of three children who wielded the Keyblade, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, but never did he bring up Miku. I assume it means that you are inconsequential, so I will just destroy you here and now!" Maleficent shouted raising her scepter that glowed with magic power as she prepared to finish off Miku.

"Fire!" Miku yelled and cast a fire spell at her own feet, and catching Maleficent off guard so she had to get back. After the fire faded out, it was shown that she used the fire to burn the ropes binding her off. "No, I won't lose, I still have to find my friends!" Miku shouted.

"Insolent Fool! Do you really think you can defeat me, the mistress of all evil?" Maleficent shouted at Miku and the two of them prepared for battle.

Miku charged at Maleficent and swung her Keyblade down on her. However Maleficent vanished in green flames then reappeared in the middle of the room. Maleficent swung her rod and a bolt of lightning flew out strait at Miku. Taken by surprise, Miku held her Keyblade in front of her and the lightning bolt struck her, knocking her back a few feet but she quickly recovered and got to her feet.

Maleficent threw another couple lightning bolts at Miku, but now aware of them, she ran to the side and avoided them. Then she ran up to Maleficent and struck her with her Keyblade, and even though she managed a few hits on her, Maleficent didn't seem to get very injured as she swung her rod at Miku, but she jumped back to avoid her.

"Insolent child. I will let you know the true meaning of fear!" Maleficent told Miku, then vanished in her green flames again, appearing in front of the throne and waved her rod in the air, and Miku noticed the area around her started glowing.

Realizing what Maleficent was doing, Miku hastily jumped to the side just as lightning bolt crashed down where the ground had lit up. But that wasn't the end, as the area around Miku lit up a second time, and Miku ran away just before the lightning came, and Miku continued to run up toward Maleficent while the lightning strikes continued coming down, and she avoided each one, reaching Maleficent and hitting her a few times with the Keyblade before one last Salvo of lightning crashed down on her, knocking her down to the ground below the throne.

Maleficent vanished in her green fire yet again, reappearing in the center of the room. "Into sleep you'll fall, forever!" Maleficent called as a ring of green flames appeared around her and swiftly crawled across the ground, heading for Miku.

Miku stayed close to the wall behind her, then when the flames neared her, she jumped up and kicked of the wall heading strait for Maleficent, striking Maleficent back with a combo with her Keyblade, then jumping back a few feet and launching a fire spell, hitting Maleficent dead on, and knocking her off balance for a moment.

"I've got you now!" Miku declared as she swung her Keyblade down on Maleficent to finish the battle, but just then Maleficent vanished in fire again, appearing a few feet away.

"Do not underestimate me, girl!" Maleficent warned, and shot a bolt of lightning from her rod at Miku again.

Miku quickly ducked below the range of the bolt and ran for Maleficent. However, Maleficent readied for lightning to crash down around her to keep Miku back, but instead she continued forward, trying to get Maleficent before she got her. Miku got right up in front of Maleficent and swung her Keyblade with all her strength just as Maleficents' lightning began coming down on top of Miku.

The deciding strike was then made, both attacks made contact, just as Miku slashed Maleficent with her Keyblade, the lightning struck her back, injuring her greatly, but now both fighters were unable to continue.

Miku used her Keyblade to support her as she stood up again. "Where did you take Phillip? I'll be getting both of us out of her now." Miku said to Maleficent, but in response she just laughed.

"Foolish girl, do you really think I would just tell you?" Maleficent asked. "Even if I were to tell you were you could find him, in your condition you would never be able to reach him before getting recaptured yourself!" Maleficent scoffed at Miku's demand. "At most you could still escape my castle alone, but you would never be able to make it if you took the time to rescue the prince."

Miku took a step back, realizing she was absolutely correct. In her critical condition, there was no way she would ever be able to rescue Phillip and escape from Malefcient's castle. As she was wondering what to do, Malefcient's pig-like guards showed up and ran toward her, attempting to capture her.

Suddenly, a memory surfaced in Miku's mind. It was a memory of something Master Xehanort taught her, Manami, and Daichi. _"You must always prioritize your own safety above all else. Do not attempt to fight a battle you cannot win. Always remember this; If you are defeated or captured, you can never complete a mission but run, and you can come back to finish what you started another time."_

As Miku remembered this lesson she looked around the room again. She looked at Maleficent who was weakened, then at herself who was also weak, and finally at the many guards in front of her. With painful regret she made her decision and ran for the for the door behind her, leaving Phillip behind for another day she would be able to rescue him.

As Miku got outside Malefcient's castle, she deployed her armor and prepared her Keyblade Glider, hoping on and running for a new world, but she promised herself she at that time that she would come back to get Phillip out of there.


	11. Darkness in One's Heart

_Chapter 10: Darkness in One's Heart_

After leaving the previous world in search of her friends and now also searching for the boy in the mask she fought who summoned to monsters of darkness, Manami now found herself in a new world. Where she found herself in was a dark forest area, and as she looked around and saw the creatures of darkness the boy in the mask had created surrounding an old women holding a basket of apples. Seeing this Manami rushed up to protect the women, taking out her Keyblade.

"Get away, I'll handle them." Manami told the women who then ran away.

Dwarf Woodlands

Manami slashed at many floods as they slowly approached her, and then cast a two thunder spells to kill some thornbites and monotruckers around her. She continued on until the monsters were gone, and then found the old women again. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I am fine, you needn't worry about me. More importantly, I'd like to ask you to get that sword away from me!" The women shouted at Manami, pointing at her Keyblade.

"What?" Manami asked, having her Keyblade vanish from her hand. "was something wrong with my Keyblade?"

"Everything is wrong with it! Including yourself, I have seen that blade a total of four times today. And, from the last three times, I have only learned to hate it." The women shouted.

"Three other times? That can't be right... Tell me, were any of the people using the sword a man name Daichi or a girl named Miku?"

"One was named Daichi and he asked about a Miku as well, but the other two were not either of them. And you are no different from them, just asking questions but never offering anything in return. They all just pointed their sword at me instead."

"Daichi did, why?"

"I can assure you I haven't a clue, but I can tell you that weapon has been a menace to me long enough; good day!" The women said and turned to walk away.

"Wait, please." Manami said. "I can't speak for the others, but let me show you my gratitude by escorting you through the forest; some of those creatures might still be lurking around."

The old women seemed to consider this for a moment. "I suppose it may be a good idea, very well." She agreed.

Almost immediately, more of the creatures appeared around them and one jumped at Manami, but she destroyed it with her Keyblade, and then swung it down on top of another that was approaching the women.

"Keep moving, I'll protect you." Manami said, and the old women began steadily moving through the forest.

It appeared that the creatures were able to discern what was and wasn't a threat, because most of them appeared to focus on attacking Manami and left the fleeing women alone. "Fire," Manami shoot a fire spell that hit and destroyed two hareraisers. then swung her Keyblade to the side to destroy a monotrucker before it could attack. "Thunder," She called unleash a lightning spell to destroy many of the floods around her and injure the stronger creature.

Manami ran forward as to not stray too far from the women in case one of the creatures attacked her, and then turned back and slashed a thornbite as it approached, and then cast a blizzard spell at a red hot chili destroying it as well.

Then, Manami heard the women give a sound of pain from behind her and turned to see a flood had attacked her, and she stabbed down on it. However because she had shifted her attention for a moment Manami was left open from behind as two hareraisers struck her with two consecutive combos together, dealing her considerable damage. Manami quickly recovered and cast a thunder spell to kill both of them and then ran back to the women and cut down the scrapper that was about to attack her from behind.

Manami and the women had gotten half way through the forest when the number of the creatures attacking them had appeared to decrease in number, but were still showing few signs of letting up. Then as a bruiser charged for the women, Manami got in its way and blocked it, and then struck it back, but it just rushed forward again, and a survival bottle flew over it to heal the damage just done to it. Noticing this Manami struck the bruiser with a combo that managed to destroy it, and then she cast a thunder spell that destroyed the survival bottle.

Manami continued fighting off the creatures, but they just seemed to come endlessly at her, as if they were being recycled after they were defeated. As time continued on, more creatures appeared in place of each one Manami destroyed, and came at her yet again. Only once the women and Manami had escaped the forest did the creatures finally seem to stop coming at them.

"Here we are." The old women said, and began walking toward a small house. "I'll be back in just a moment." She told Manami and entered the house without waiting a reply.

"Wait," Manami said. Even if the monsters appeared to have stopped for now there was no telling when they'd come back, so she wanted to stay close in case they did.

Manami walked up and opened the door; but when she did, she saw the old women standing over an unconscious girl, laughing. The old women continued to laugh until she turned around and saw Manami standing at the door.

"What did you do to her?" Manami asked, shocked.

"I knew you would be the same..." The women muttered, but suddenly she wasn't an old women. She had transformed into a beautiful queen, and then she dashed past Manami while she was still awestruck, knocking her down.

"Hey, get back here!" Manami yelled at the queen, and chased her back to the forest.

Once Manami got to the forest, the queen turned to face her. "I knew you'd be the same, so I had planned for this." The queen said, and then a huge tree that appeared to be another one of those creatures from earlier walked up behind her. "Those creatures you destroyed when you first found me were under my control. I tried just getting you away from me but you insisted to help me. So I decided I would use the unversed that boy in a mask gave me to weaken you, that way I could deal with you once I finished off Snow White."

"Boy in a mask?" Manami whispered to herself, remembering the boy she fought in the last world.

"Now, destroy that girl!" The queen ordered of the Mad Treant behind her. Manami took out her Keyblade in response, but then the Mad Treant did something odd. Instead of going for Manami, it shook it's tree head, and many strange fruit fell on top of the queen. The fruit it dropped suddenly exploded, and the next thing Manami knew, the queen was dead.

Once the queen had been taken care of, the Mad Treant turned it's focus for Manami, and she had no choice but to ignore the tragedy that just occurred and fight. The Mad Treant jumped into the air and aimed it's landing for Manami, but she leaped out of the, then shoot a fire spell at it, but it seemed to do little in comparison to the other unversed.

Manami ran up to the Mad Treant and struck it with a strong combo, then jumped back and shoot two more fire spell at it, yet still it didn't seem to be phased. The Mad Treant stuck it's roots into the ground, and not knowing what was coming, Manami was suddenly struck back when it's root came up from the ground below her. She got back up and ran to the side when she noticed another root was about to attack, and continued running until the Mad Treant unrooted itself. She then ran at it again and preformed a spinning jump attack and followed up with a regular combo but was knocked back by the Mad Treant in the middle of it, then shook its treetop, making more of the exploding fruit fall down toward her, but she flipped backward in order to avoid it. then used a thunder surge once the explosions ended to get back up to it, but as she did it jumped into the air again, getting distance.

But as it landed it made a second jump, coming back at Manami and struck her back. Manami made sure to quickly recover and attacked it again with a fire blitz followed by a combo, and afterward the Mad Treant fell unable to move for a moment as if exhausted, but still alive. Given such a chance Manami relentlessly attacked it with a series of attacks and spells to deal it a great amount of damage before it stood up abruptly and quivered with darkness that injured Manami.

As the Mad Treant stuck its roots into the ground again, Manami ran around it until a root came up from the ground, then switched direction and ran for it, striking it twice with her Keyblade and ran backward and the next root came up from the ground. Manami flew back at it with a thunder surge then jumped up to avoid the next root coming up.

Noticing the solid intervals between the roots emerging from the ground was easy and gave Manami a good advantage and she attacked twice with her Keyblade before the next root, after which the Mad Treant unrooted itself and stepped down on Manami, but she blocked it and cast another fire spell at it and it fell down again. With this, Manami was able to relentlessly assault the unversed again and even finish it off before it got back up. Once the Mad Treat was defeated it just faded into nothing, and Manami thought about how it had killed the Queen. But then she remembered the girl who she made to fall unconscious, Snow White, and turned around to go see if she was okay.

Arriving in front of the house, Manami found seven dwarfs around her, all quite saddened. "Hey, who are you!" One of the dwarfs yelled at Manami when he saw her. "Did you do this to Snow White!" He accused.

"What, no, that queen did it." Manami hastily told them.

"The Queen? That evil witch?" The dwarf asked.

"I guess, tell me, is she going to be alright?" She asked the dwarfs.

"I'm not pure/ I mean sure." Another dwarf answered sadly.

"I'm so sorry, if I had just gotten there a second sooner, I might have been able to stop this." Manami told them.

"You should just leave! We don't want you here!" The first dwarf yelled at Manami.

"I really wish there was something I could do." Manami told them and walked away. Once she was out of sight she looked behind her, thought to herself she would come back to save her, and employed her armor and glider and left the world, unable to do anything more for the moment.


	12. Shady Recall

_Chapter 11: Shady Recall_

Miku landed in a new world after running from Maleficent in the previous one. In this new world she found herself in the foyer of a grand castle. She looked around the magnificent place for a moment and then turned toward a ballroom entrance, where she caught a glimpse of someone from behind, a tall man with brown hair. Even though she couldn't make out any details Miku's eyes widened in surprise, thinking perhaps she recognized him.

"Daichi?" She said to herself, and chased after him to make sure.

Castle of Dreams

Miku had gotten herself all worked up at the thought she found Daichi, but the second she entered the ballroom, she realized the man was not Daichi. However, even though it was not Daichi, Miku noticed the piece of armor on his left arm. The armor was exactly like the armor she herself had on her chest.

It was entirely possible he was from the same world as her and might know something about Manami or Daichi. She was about to approach him but then noticed something on a balcony overhead. "Uh, unversed."

Miku looked back at the mystery man she thought might be able to help her, but decided the unversed were a higher priority. Although she didn't like the idea, she made the decision to find a way up to that balcony.

Miku ran back to the base of the foyer's staircase and looked around. "Now how do I..." She started, then saw a large doorway to the side. "...There!" She said and headed for the doorway.

Entering the door she found herself in a dimly lit hallway. But also there were more unversed all through the hall, so she took out her Keyblade and got to work.

Miku tried to make fast work of the unversed here so she could get to the balcony in the ballroom. She cast a fire spell at the first bruiser in front of her and destroyed it, then ran forward at the next ones.

Miku ducked down and sun around with her Keyblade near the ground to destroy two floods on either side of her and then cast consecutive a fire and blizzard spell to destroy a respective blue sea salt and red hot chili. Miku ran forward a few feet an slashed another bruiser and jumped to the side of it.

Then she jumped backward over a scrapper as it tried to attack her then cast a thunder spell to simultaneously destroy multiple unversed, which cleared the hallway for her to get though.

Miku walked though another door and saw the balcony the unversed were to her left. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Miku ran up to the unversed on the balcony and destroyed the few floods there. "That was easy," Miku told herself.

And actually she was quite surprised at the small number on the balcony. They didn't look to be there by mere chance, it looked like they had planned to do something from up here. But she found out the truth by turning around to go back. Behind her was a huge unversed that looked like a music conductor who had a floating drum, trumpet and violin playing in the air around him.

"What the/" Miku shouted, but was cut off by the Symphony Master using it's instruments to make a vortex of wind that blew her off the balcony.

The Symphony Master came down from the balcony and did the same thing again before Miku could get up, blowing her all the way out of the ballroom. Due to being caught so off guard Miku couldn't defend herself and was injured greatly from the two attacks.

"Guards, guards! Oh, where could they possibly be?" Miku heard someone say.

"I'll take care of this." Miku heard another say, and looked up to see it had been the man from earlier.

But more importantly she saw he was holding a Keyblade in his hand. If he had a Keyblade he had to have known Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort, now it was imperative that she talk to him. Miku tried to get up but was too injured. Then a man in a blue military suit, A girl in a white ball gown, and a young man in a brown military suit came over to her and helped her up.

"Are you alright?" The young man asked as he supported her.

"Please, I need to talk to him." Miku pleaded, but they held her back.

"Nonsense," The man in blue stated. "It's far too dangerous in your condition. We need to move you somewhere safe." He said and the three of them moved her into a corner below the foyer staircase.

"Now stay here, alright?" The girl told Miku and the three of them went back up the stairs.

Then suddenly, Miku's head began to hurt, almost as if in trigger to the young women's words. She realized more of her memories were returning.

_"Just stay here alright?" Daichi was the one who said this to Miku. Miku was unsure when exactly this memory had happened and it was kind of hazy, but she was injured greatly and was in a wasteland of a place._

_ "But you guys can't take him on by yourselves, you need my help." Miku told Daichi while trying to stand up._

_ "I know that. T__hat's why he went for you first. We'll hold him back for as long as we can, but you need to focus on healing yourself so you can help us later." Daichi told Miku._

_ "Ah!" Miku and Daichi heard Manami scream and was thrown back by something._

_ "Manami!" Daichi and Miku shouted to her as they saw._

_ After that Miku saw something, or someone walk toward Manami. The person was shrouded in darkness, and the memory was already hazy so it was impossible to tell who it was, or even if it was a person at all._

_ "Get away from her!" Daichi yelled and grabbed his Keyblade and ran toward whatever the thing in shadows was._

_ "Daichi, no!" Miku yelled, but he went on and clashed with the unknown being._

Miku was brought back to reality in a flash. It seemed she had been out for longer than it seemed because she felt pretty well healed. She got up and walked out from behind the stairs and saw a girl going out of the castle, it wasn't the girl in the white gown from earlier, but some other girl with blue hair.

Miku noticed that she had the same kind of armor as the man from earlier, and thought perhaps they knew each other, and even though the man was probably no longer around, maybe she could get the same information from her.

"Oh, you're up?" The young man from earlier asked as he came down the stairs. "Are you sure you're alright to be walking around?"

"I'm fine, thanks for your support though." Miku told him. "I need to get going though, there's someone I need to talk to."

Miku ran out of the castle and into the courtyard in front. When she looked around she saw the girl go into a forest across the way. Miku followed her and when she entered the forest saw the girl going toward a mansion.

"Hey, wait a second!" Miku tried calling after the girl but she hadn't heard her. So instead Miku had to go chase after her again.

"Miku?" A voice suddenly came from behind, and when Miku turned around she couldn't believe who she saw; Daichi. "It is you, Miku!" He said and ran up to her.

Tears appeared in Miku's eyes at the sight of her beast friend. "Daichi!" She screamed with joy and ran to him, and the two of them embraced each other. "Thank goodness you're alright. Listen, there are some thing I have to tell you. The Realm of Darkness, we were trapped there for 10 years!"

"I already know that, I met with Master Xehanort." Daichi replied, surprising Miku.

"You met with our Master?" Miku asked, and she was surprised to her the tone of her own voice. It sounded like she didn't like that Daichi met their Master.

"Yeah, he told me to go find you and Manami, then to find him. Told me it was more important I find you than be with him." Daichi told Miku.

"Okay, now just a minute, there's someone over here I think is from the same world as us." Miku told Daichi. "She has the same armor."

"What, who?" Daichi asked and they both looked around the corner toward the mansion.

"Wait, it's dangerous to fight the darkness with light, my dear." A voice said to the girl at the door, who was the person Miku spoke of. And now the two of them saw that the girl had a Keyblade in her hand.

Suddenly, Miku's head started hurting again, seemingly triggered by the mystery voice's words. Flashes appeared in Miku's head, they seemed to be of the same time period as the memories from earlier, as she saw the same wasteland world. And the same figure shrouded in darkness. Miku saw herself fighting the figure in darkness, and she herself was covered in light.

"Miku, what's wrong?" Daichi asked, noticing her in pain.

"Ah! What is this?" Miku yelled in pain as the memories flowed through her mind.

Covered in light, and fighting something shrouded in darkness, Miku pressed her Keyblade against her opponent's weapon, which looked to be a Keyblade of Darkness. Miku stared into the face of her enemy. She couldn't make out any details through the darkness so she could not be certain right now, but the face she made out belong to none other than her own Master Xehanort.

Miku flashed back to reality, panting and backing away. She didn't want to believe it, and she wasn't sure if she could trust what she saw in that hazy memory, but it scarred her so much she completely forgot about everything around her, including Daichi. She employed her armor and ran away from the world, separating her and Daichi only minutes after they found each other.


	13. Conflicting Memories

_Chapter 12: Conflicting Memories_

After the Magic Mirror told him what to look for in order to find Miku, Daichi left and found himself in a new world. In a world with: 'a castle that lights the night', just as the mirror had described it. He took a moment to look around and almost immediately found exactly what he was looking for. He saw a girl running into a forest nearby, and he knew who that girl was.

"Miku!" He called, but she had gone into the forest and didn't hear him. He tried to run after her but was stopped short as the unversed appeared around him and he took out his Keyblade. "Dang it, out of my way!"

Castle of Dreams

Daichi wasted absolutely no time in sweeping his Keyblade near the ground and destroyed the Floods in his way. He then swung his Keyblade strongly to one side and the other to kill the Bruisers charging at him.

Daichi put up his Keyblade and pointed toward one of the unversed, and then he unleashed a sonic break. He struck through a shoegazer, using speed to increase his attack strength and kill it in one blow. Then he swiftly turned his direction and charged through a second and third shoegazer, and then finished up running through a scrapper.

At the end of the sonic break Daichi needed to catch his balance and was vulnerable for a moment, which allowed a bruiser to tackle him back, which in consequence threw him into a blizzard spell that was cast by a blue sea salt. Once Daichi recovered he swung his Keyblade around him in a circle to kill both the bruiser and the blue sea salt. The second Daichi finished off the unversed he ran toward the forest where Miku went.

Daichi entered the woods and looked around until he saw exactly who he was looking for. "Miku?" He said, and Miku turned around to look at him. "It is you, Miku!"

Tears appeared in Miku's eyes. "Daichi!" She screamed with joy and ran to him, and the two of them embraced. "Thank goodness you're alright. Listen, there are some things I have to tell you. The Realm of Darkness, we were trapped there for 10 years!"

"I already know that, I met with Master Xehanort." Daichi replied, surprising Miku.

"You met with our Master?" Miku asked.

"Yeah, he told me to go find you and Manami, then to find him. Told me it was more important I find you than be with him." Daichi told Miku.

"Okay, now just a minute, there's someone over here I think is from the same world as us." Miku told Daichi. "She has the same armor."

"What, who?" Daichi asked and they both looked around the corner toward a mansion.

"Wait, it's dangerous to fight the darkness with light, my dear." A voice said to the girl at the door, who was the person Miku spoke of. And now the two of them saw that the girl had a Keyblade in her hand.

Suddenly Miku gripped her head and began screaming. "Miku, what's wrong?" Daichi asked, noticing her in pain.

"Ah! What is this?" Miku yelled in pain, and Daichi didn't understand what was going on.

Daichi watched Miku until she stopped screaming and began panting as if exhausted, and backed away from him. Then, without warning, Miku put her armor on and fled the world. "Miku!" Daichi tried to stop her but it was too late, she was long gone.

"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" A woman said to the girl with a Keyblade. She waved a wand and made the girl with a Keyblade glow bright and fly up into a second floor window.

Daichi looked out where Miku had fled, trying desperately to understand what could have prompted her leave. Could it have been some of her memories returned? But what could have happened in the past that caused such a horrible reaction?

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone else was here." The woman that spoke to the girl with a Keyblade suddenly said to Daichi, noticing him.

Daichi looked back and forth between her and where Miku was. Unable to do anything about it now, he replied to the women. "I'm Daichi, who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Cinderella's fairy god mother." She answered.

"I overheard you say not to fight darkness with light. But if not with light, how are we supposed to fight it?" Daichi asked, remembering what The Light from the Realm of Darkness told him.

"_**No,**__**use**__**not**__**the**__**Keyblades**__**of**__**Darkness,**__**for**__**what**__**could**__**be**__**gained**__**or**__**kept**__**by**__**fighting**__**Darkness**__**with**__**Darkness?**_"

Somehow, thinking about this made Daichi's head begin to hurt, and he realized more of his memories were returning.

_"__When__confronting__the__darkness,__you__have__to__stay__vigilant.__" _He realized this memory was of Master Xehanort giving him a lesson. _"__We__are__all__Warriors__of__Light__because__the__only__way__to__fight__the__darkness__is__with__light.__Never__forget__that.__" __Xehanort__had__said._

These memories were now conflicting with what the fairy godmother was now telling him. According to her, fighting darkness with light only created more darkness, but everyone else had only told him light was the only way to fight the darkness.

"If we can't fight with light or darkness, then what else is there for us to use?"

"Darkness isn't something you should fight." The fairy godmother answered, confusing Daichi. "Darkness can't exist without light, but the same is true for light; it cannot exist without darkness. Light and darkness are a co-existence that also exists in every heart of every person; it is not meant to be disrupted."

"But if that is true, then what do I do?" Daichi asked, more to himself than the fairy godmother.

"There is still a way," The fairy godmother said to Daichi. "Cinderella still needs help to keep her light from fading. If you would, I would like you to assist Jaq and help Cinderella."

A bit discouraged after what the fairy godmother said before, it took a second for Daichi to respond. "Alright, whatever I can do to help." He agreed.

"Alright then, away we go." The fairy godmother said and her magic wand began to sparkle. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo," She said, and Daichi was incased in her magic, and sent flying up into the upper window she had also sent the girl from earlier into.

When he was let from the fairy godmother's spell, he found himself to have shrunk to the size of a mouse. The house around him seemed enormous to him now. He scanned the room until he saw the girl and an actual mouse with a key near a mouse hole.

The mouse with the key then ran hurriedly into the hole while the girl ran off in a different direction, leaving the room. "So that must have been Jaq. Let's do this then." Daichi said to himself and began running toward the mouse hole. However, before he reached it, something large jumped out from behind a dresser beside the mouse hole.

Upon examining, Daichi realized it was a cat. The cat stuck his paw into the mouse hole Jaq had ran into with the key and then pulled Jaq out.

"No, not Lucifer!" Jaq screamed while being held by the tail. "I've got hurry to Cinderella."

"Hold on," Daichi yelled up to Jaq as he came up behind Lucifer and used his Keyblade to strike it from behind, causing him to drop Jaq. Daichi ran around to get between Jaq and Lucifer. "Hurry and go," Daichi told Jaq, who was currently staring at his Keyblade. But when Jaq heard Daichi, he immediately jumped up and rushed back into the mouse hole with the key.

Lucifer swung its clawed paw at Daichi, but he jumped back and out of the way. Daichi then threw his Keyblade at Lucifer and struck him once in the head, then having his Keyblade return to his hand.

Lucifer swung it paw again, and this time Daichi jumped up and then off the wall, landing on Lucifer's back. Lucifer began trying to shake Daichi off like a bull with a bull rider. Daichi grabbed tight to Lucifer's fur and struck his side with his Keyblade, causing Lucifer to veer left and hit his head on the corner of the dresser, causing him to become incapacitated for a few moments.

In those moments, Daichi gave a long series of attacks to Lucifer and finished with a quick blitz, at which time Lucifer got back to his feet, and span quickly, slashing Daichi away with his hind claws. Lucifer then ran away and jumped up onto a desk in the room. When Daichi began to run toward him, Lucifer jumped from the desk and tried to crush Daichi beneath him.

Daichi rolled to the side and out of the way just in time, and Lucifer's bad landing incapacitated him once more. Again Daichi stringed a short combo together, but this time Lucifer got up much quicker and swung its claws at Daichi again, striking him back.

Daichi retaliated with a strong counterattack and used a blitz attack to jump and slash down on Lucifer 3 times. Again Lucifer ran away and jumped up onto the desk, then jumped down on top of him again, and although Daichi still dodged it, Lucifer's landing was planted this time, and he ran at Daichi, swinging his claws.

Daichi blocked Lucifer's paw with his Keyblade and preformed one last sliding dash attack to knock Lucifer out for the count. Lucifer tried to keep himself up for a moment, but the fatigue was too much and he fell down, unconscious.

"Whew, alright then, let's go check on Jaq." Daichi said once it was over, and ran into the mouse hole.

When he found the other end of the mouse hole it opened up into someone's room. Daichi looked around and saw Jaq run up to a girl, who by process of elimination must have been Cinderella. Seeing Jaq with the key, Cinderella lit up and took it from him, opening the door to her room and racing out.

Seeing Cinderella smile was all Daichi needed to be satisfied. He had played his part to keep her light from fading away, now he needed to get back to finding Miku; so he left the world.


	14. Fear of Darkness

_Chapter 13: Fear of Darkness  
_

After sadly leaving the previous world, Manami finally came upon a new world. Dozen's of questions filled her head right now. Where were Daichi and Miku now? What has happened to them? What is the goal of the boy in the mask? What of Master Xehanort? And just what had really happened since they had fallen into the Realm of Darkness?

"I need to find answers." Manami said to herself as she began to run to the old and gloomy castle in front of her.

Enchanted Dominion

Manami entered the front gates of the old castle and looked around. "Maybe I should have gone the other direction. It seems unlikely anyone's actually in this place." She whispered to herself, seeing nothing around that would point to the castle still being occupied.

However, something suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, and its sight made Manami run and hide around a corner. It was a pathway of darkness. Manami watched as a figure walked out of the darkness and found that it was the boy in the mask she had seen spreading the unversed through the worlds. "It's him," Manami said to herself, making sure to keep her voice down. The boy looked around for a second and then headed deeper into the castle. "Where's he going?" Manami wondered, and chased after him.

However, upon following him to the next section of the castle, the boy was already turned to face her, as if he had already known she was there. "Oh, it's you again." The boy said in a disapproving way. "I thought I took care of you the first time we met."

"You shouldn't have underestimated me. Now what are you doing here; planning to send out your unversed to destroy this world too?" Manami accused, bringing out her Keyblade and pointing it at him.

"No, I've already done that. I've got a different job here today." The boy told Manami. "However that also means I have no time for you, so…" He said and waved his hand, and his unversed appeared. "Make sure you die properly this time, okay?" He said mockingly and turned around and ran into the castle.

"Hey, get back here!" Manami shouted and ran for the boy, but was stopped by the unversed. "Out of my way!" Manami shouted, and began to clear the way.

Manami swung her Keyblade to both sides, destroying two Floods in front of her. Then she black flipped out of the way of a Red Hot Chili's fire spell and retaliated with a blizzard spell that knocked it back and allowed her to run up and strike it to finish it off. Once she had done that she threw her Keyblade to her right at a Bruiser, and had it vanish and come back to her hand and repeat the process two more times to finish it off; but left her back open as a scrapper struck her from behind twice.

She turned around and struck it twice to defeat it, but as it always seemed to be, the assault would not be ended so simply. Another hoard of unversed surrounded her anew, restarting her battle.

Once she had finally made it so that the unversed stopped appearing, she looked over in the direction the boy had run off and followed after him. He had said he had other business to do here. Whatever that was exactly, it couldn't be good.

As she entered into a kind of throne room, Manami heard the masked boy speak around the corner. "Make sure you use this power correctly. We don't need anymore screw ups like with the Princess of Heart, got it?" He told someone.

The term 'Princess of Heart' triggered something in Manami's memories, but the concept was still clouded in her mind, but she could remember they were important. "You dare insult my power?" A woman in a dark dress and holding a scepter in one hand accused the masked boy. "If you had cared to mention the other girl I would not have failed!" The woman shouted.

Manami focused more intently on the conversation, wondering if perhaps this 'other girl' she was talking about might be Miku. "Other girl?" The masked boy question, and looked over toward the entrance thinking of Manami.

"She went by the name of Miku, but I was only told of three young Keyblade wielders." The woman told him.

"Well the thing is we actually didn't know they were around either. I never brought it up to him because they were weak from what I'd seen. If you really had trouble with one of them then maybe you aren't fit for the job."

"How dare you, You should learn your place!" The woman said, binging up her scepter as if preparing to fight.

"I think you're the one who needs to be taught a lesson." The masked boy replied, bringing out his Keyblade of Darkness, prepared to return the challenge.

"Wait just a minute!" Manami shouted, and both of them turned to face her as she stopped and brought out her Keyblade.

"Another Keyblade Wielder?" The woman asked, annoyed by the lack of information she had been given.

"So this isn't the one you had trouble with. Then that means there are three of them." The masked boy said.

"What," The Woman reacted, truly ready to break the boy's neck over this.

"What do you know about Miku, where is she?" Manami asked the woman.

"Hmpf, I have no idea where your friend is. She fled from here quite some time ago." The woman replied.

Manami scowled at this response, the two people before her had both met with one of her friends, but she was still nowhere closer to finding them herself. "Either way, I'm not about to let the two of you off easy!" Manami declared.

"This could be a good opportunity." The masked boy said. "Prove you're not worthless and defeat this girl with the power I gave you. They're already irrelevant, so I don't care what you do with her afterwards." He told her and vanished into a portal of darkness.

The woman scoffed. "Impudent boy, who do you think you are talking to?" She said and then waved her staff, and a huge Unversed that had the form of a spinning wheel.

Manami gasped at the sight, as it was the same thing the evil queen in the previous world had done. Although the unversed were produced by the boy in the mask, he apparently had the ability to give others temporary control of the monsters.

"Sadly I don't have the patience to deal with you myself, so I'll just have to use these horribly simple creatures." The woman said as the Wheel Master then charged at Manami.

Manami jumped to the side and it skidded to a halt as it began to turn back around. Manami ran up to it and struck it with her Keyblade using a couple combos, but then the Wheel master swung its arms at Manami, knocking her back.

Manami got back to her feet, but when she began running toward the Wheel Master again, it shot out its yellow thread and entangled Manami in it, dragging her closer to it. Manami struggled and managed to break herself free of the thread and then threw a fira spell at the unversed's head and follow up with a combo and finished with a thunder surge, landing behind it.

But then the Wheel Master began spinning around rapidly and then threw its spinning wheel at her, which she only narrowly avoided. Manami went in to strike the Wheel Master once more, but after one attack it suddenly leapt into the air and fell to crush her. Manami jumped forward and avoided the Wheel Master which also picked up its wheel. Then Manami used her hand to flip her up and around before the shockwave produced struck her down and shot a blizzara spell at it.

When it hit however, the Wheel Master raged with dark flames and began charging at Manami again. Manami didn't have time to dodge and was knocked back, but managed to recover quickly and use a fire dash to counter. Next Manami turned and used another combo on it, then jumped to its head and slashed it once more.

Manami jumped back just before the Wheel Master swung its arms again. Then, the Wheel Master shot its thread at Manami again, but this time she was ready and blocked the thread and cast a fire spell that knocked the unversed out. Taking the opportunity, Manami strung together a few combos before the Wheel finally got back to its feet in another rage of dark flames, knocking Manami to her back.

As Manami got to her feet, the Wheel Master span around to throw its wheel again, but Manami used a sudden thundaga spell and broke the wheel, sending it into yet another dark flame rage and charged at her.

Manami was starting to get used to the Wheel Master's attack patterns and dodged to the left of its charge and then cast a fira spell at it. The fira struck the Wheel Masters spool of thread and broke it as well, but this time resulted in the unversed once again falling to its knees, opening it up to attack.

Manami ran forward and attacked three times, and at last finished it off, and it faded away to nothing, leaving her in the room with Maleficent who had been watching.

"Worthless creature; and that boy actually had the nerve to call me useless!" Maleficent shouted out with the result of the battle.

Manami pointed her Keyblade up at Maleficent. "Now tell me everything you know about Miku." She ordered.

"I've already said I know nothing of your friend's whereabouts." Maleficent retorted. "I have no more time to waste squabbling with you. Leave my castle this instant!" Maleficent shouted at Manami.

"Not a chance," Manami rejected and prepared to fight.

"Then I will remove you by force." Maleficent said and swung her rod to point it at Manami.

At that instant, a pool of darkness opened up underneath Manami, and her leg dropped into it as it began to swallow her. "What-" She gasped as she began sinking quickly into the darkness. "No, please no. Not the darkness!" Manami shouted and did everything she could to pull herself out of the pool of darkness, which did nothing but remind her of the horror of being trapped in the Realm of Darkness.

Maleficent did nothing but laugh at the torment she was causing Manami as she struggled fruitlessly to get out of the darkness engulfing her. The deeper Manami sank, the tighter she gripped at the ground to try and pull herself free, but with each second she only sank further down.

Manami continued to scream until she was completely swallowed up into the darkness and the portal closed behind her, and Maleficent only laughed, as she would be able to shove this back into the face of the boy in the mask.


	15. Path to Truth

_Chapter 14: Path to Truth_

In search of Miku, who had fled after they finally met again for unknown reasons, Daichi came to a new world where he would search for answers. The world he found himself in however was a strange one. It was a starry night in the world he came to, and the only thing there was a tall twisting town in front of him.

"Please, let me find something here…" Daichi muttered to himself and began to walk forward into the unknown tower.

Mysterious Tower

As Daichi approached the door to the tower, unversed appeared and blocked his path. "These things, they're everywhere!" Daichi said and brought out his Keyblade, slashing two floods in front of him and then turning to face the rest behind.

As a bruiser ran at him, Daichi used an aerial slam to knock it into the air and back down at the ground, and then finished it off with a strong horizontal swing. Daichi was struck by a combo from a hareraiser, but he countered with a combo and destroyed it. After that he jumped up to avoid a blizzard spell from a blue sea salt, and then struck it down and crashed his Keyblade on top of it to finish it off.

As Daichi had become accustomed to by now, the unversed did not cease after one wave. More unversed surrounded him the moment it appeared he was safe, and so he continued to fight. Through a second and third wave of unversed, the attacks finally stopped. After taking one more look around to be sure the unversed weren't coming back, Daichi turned back and entered the tower.

The foyer of the tower was small as the whole tower was more like a bent cylinder, and there was a staircase that circled up to the top. "Who lives in this tower?" Daichi asked himself before heading up the staircase.

When he got to the top of the stairs he opened up the only door and found himself in a small room with many books on shelves. In the center of the room was a table with a tall chair; and sitting in the chair with his eyes closed was an old wizard.

At Daichi's entrance, the man opened his eyes and looked at him as if he knew he was coming. "So it is true, you have returned." The man said, surprising Daichi.

"Who are-" Daichi began but then the memories came back to him in a rush. "Uh, Master Yen Sid," Daichi said as he remembered who the man was.

Yen Sid was one of the Keyblade Masters along with Master Xehanort. Daichi could also remember there was a third, but he couldn't recall the name. "Yes Daichi, It is me." Yen Sid replied. "Daichi, you must listen carefully. I was told of your return by Master Eraqus after Miku had found her way to your home."

"You know where Miku is?" Daichi asked hastily.

But Yen Sid however shook his head. "Eraqus told me that she fled in search of you and Manami quite a while ago. But there are more pressing matters to address. Are you aware that you have been missing for 10 years?"

Hearing that, it took Daichi a moment to reply. "Yes, I also found Master Xehanort while searching for Miku and Manami, and he told me."

"Wait, you're saying you have met Xehanort?" Yen Sid asked suddenly.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Daichi responded.

Yen Sid took a deep breathe before answering. "We have not been able to contact Xehanort since the unversed began to appear."

"What?" Daichi almost yelled out. "But I met him after fighting Unversed and he seemed fine."

"I was afraid of this…" Yen Sid muttered. "It seems Xehanort's disappearance and the Unversed's attack on the worlds is not completely unrelated."

Daichi gasped at Yen Sid's words. "What are you saying? You think Master Xehanort has something to do with the Unversed?"

"Settle down Daichi, we don't have enough information to make accusations like that." Yen Sid said, trying to calm Daichi and then changed topics. "Daichi, I understand you have lost the majority of your memories from before your disappearance."

"That's right, but I'm remembering things little-by-little." Daichi answered, and then Yen Sid crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if trying to figure out what to do next.

"You must have been through quite a few ordeals with the Unversed by now; perhaps it is best if you continue your search for your friends." He said, more to himself than to Daichi as if still deliberating the situation. "Daichi, I believe it may be easier to recover your memories if you reunite with Miku and Manami. By now, you must have become somewhat accustomed to fighting the Unversed, so I want you to continue to search for them."

"Of course," Daichi responded, less agreeing to Yen Sid and more stating that he planned to do so regardless.

"But first, I want you to speak with Master Eraqus. As he has spoken with Miku, he may be able to give you a clue as to where she went."

"Yes, Master." Daichi said with a bow and turned to leave.

"And Daichi," Yen Sid added before he left. "I don't mean to put blame on Xehanort, but if you do happen to see him again; be wary."

Daichi was still for a moment, but then turned his head sideways and gave a nod to Yen Sid. After that, no more words were exchanged and Daichi left to find Master Eraqus, hoping he would be able to help him find Miku…


	16. Back to Square One

_Chapter 15: Back to Square One_

Daichi followed Yen Sid's directions and landed on a new world. Although in truth it was not that the world was new, but that Daichi did not remember it. According to Yen Sid, this world was his home.

Daichi took a moment to take in the surroundings, trying to perhaps awaken his memories of this place; but although there was a sense of familiarity, nothing specific came to his mind.

As if on cue, Unversed appeared around Daichi just when he began walking forward. Daichi took out his Keyblade and began fighting. Somehow though, there seemed to be less Unversed here than in the other worlds he had encountered them.

As he took down 2 Floods, 3 Scrapper and a Bruiser; once he had, the second wave came, but was even less in number than the first. Because there were so few of them, Daichi didn't have any problems taking them down swiftly.

When it appeared the Unversed had stopped appearing, Daichi put his Keyblade away and began walking toward the large castle, however, another Bruiser suddenly appeared behind him and prepared to strike him before he knew what hit him.

"Daichi, behind you!" A voice suddenly called out, and in response Daichi turned his head and saw the Bruiser, jumping out of the way just as it tried to attack, and at the same time a sphere of light was shot at it and it was vaporized instantly.

After that a man ran up to Daichi and helped him to his feet. "Daichi, are you alright?" The man asked.

Daichi took a second to get a good look at the man, and then realized it was Master Eraqus. "Master Eraqus… Yes I'm fine. Thank you."

"Come with me, there is much we need to discuss." Eraqus said, and began leading Daichi toward the castle.

Land of Departure

Eraqus lead Daichi into the castle and into a room that had three chairs and sat Daichi down in one while he remained standing. "Yen Sid called me before you arrived." Eraqus said. "Tell me Daichi, how much of your memory have you been able to recover?" He asked.

Daichi put his hand to his head, as if trying to recall something more before answering. "Nothing important." He said. "I've been remembering bits and pieces of my life from before, but I still don't know how Miku, Manami and I ended up in the Realm of Darkness to begin with."

"That's quite alright; you just need to have patience with yourself. Sooner or later it's sure to come to you." Eraqus told Daichi.

"Yen Sid told me you met Miku." Daichi got to the point of his coming here.

"I did meet her, but I am sorry to tell you I have no idea where she is now. Our meeting was fleeting and she left in a hurry because she wanted to find you and Manami."

Daichi sighed, although it wasn't surprising if they had met a while ago. "Actually, I had met Miku before coming here." Daichi said. "But like with you, it was a short reunion."

"Why, what happened?" Eraqus asked.

"I'm still not sure what happened." Daichi answered. "Miku suddenly began shouting in pain; I think she might have begun remembering something. But whatever she remembered wasn't a good memory. Miku was scarred senseless by it and ran away before I could stop her."

"I see, and she didn't say anything about what she saw?"

"Nothing, she just wanted to get away."

Eraqus thought on this for a moment, and then switch viewpoint. "Yen Sid also tells me you have met Master Xehanort. Tell me Daichi, was Xehanort acting peculiar to you at all?"

"Do you think he has something to do with the Unversed too?" Daichi asked, standing up at hearing this a second time.

"I don't mean to accuse him but…" Eraqus stopped for a moment, and looked to the side. "But let's just say that Master Xehanort is no stranger to the darkness."

Daichi seemed surprised, but after a moment sat back down with a sigh. "Well either way, even If Master Xehanort was behaving differently, I wouldn't have remembered enough to realize it." He admitted, only half-willing.

"I suppose you're right. It's too much to ask you something like that so soon." Eraqus said, and began walking away from Daichi.

"Master?" Daichi stopped Eraqus before he left, thinking he might have had something else to ask or say.

"When Miku appeared, I was overjoyed to learn you three had returned; but I was also afraid of losing you again." Eraqus said without turning around as if he were confessing something. "When Miku told me she needed to go find you herself, I tried to stop her because her memory lose would impede her fighting ability. I only want to be sure the three of you will be able to return after everything is said and done.

"Daichi, if you have made it this far, then I don't need to worry about your safety. You, Miku and Manami are all capable of defending yourselves. So just promise me one thing Daichi…" Eraqus said and turned to face Daichi. "Find them. Find your friends and return safely."

Stunned by Master Eraqus's humility, it took Daichi a moment to think of how to respond. "Yes, Master Eraqus." He responded and stood up. "I swear to you we will all return together."

Eraqus smiled at Daichi's answer. "Then you'd best go find them. There still out there, as are many dangers. Be careful, Daichi."

"I will; thank you, Master." Daichi said and then began to run out of the castle.

Once outside, Daichi employed his armor and left his home world in search of Miku and Manami as Eraqus watched him leave, hope filling his eyes.

"I'll be waiting, so be sure you come back." Eraqus said those last words, and then went back into the castle by himself.


	17. Wasted Time

_Chapter 16: Wasted Time  
_

While running away out of fear of what she saw in her memories, Miku landed on a new world and just fell to the ground in defeat. First there was the evil witch named Maleficent who spoke of Xehanort and 'plans' he had; and now there were these memories of the same man shrouded in darkness, fighting in a barren wasteland against her.

"Master Xehanort… what did you do?" Miku asked as she picked herself up at last and shook her head to try and get some of the pain to subside.

Miku sighed, realizing that she finally had Daichi, but had blown it all because of that memory by fleeing. Unable to do anything about it now, she surveyed the area of the new world she was in. The world was so full of light it actually managed to lift Miku's spirits a little, momentarily forgetting all of her problems until she looked over at the back of the square and saw a certain young boy in a mask that hid his face walk down some stairs toward the entrance to the square.

Miku recognized the boy as the same one who had fled the scene of Unversed that were attacking residents of that world. "Hey you!" She shouted after the boy, trying to get his attention so she could figure out what he was doing with the Unversed in the first place, having no idea who he actually was. But the boy apparently didn't notice her and continued walking. Miku tried going after him when the Unversed suddenly appeared around her, halting her advance. "Out of my way!" Miku yelled at the Unversed, and then began what was now a routine battle.

Radiant Garden

The first wave consisted of four Blue Sea Salt's and a Chrono Twister. Miku started out with an aerial slam and knocked the Chrono Twister into the air and smashed it back down to the ground, following up with a regular combo to kill it off. Miku turned and saw two blizzard spells flying at her, but reacted quickly and blocked the attacks and then countered by jumping and using fire surge to strike two of the Blue Sea Salts and kill them, then turned around and repeated the action to destroy the other two.

But if Miku had learned anything about the Unversed fighting behaviors, it was that there was always more than one wave. Four Tank Topplers and four Arch Ravens appeared next. But Miku was not afraid of the Unversed, and showed only determination on her face.

Miku saw the Unversed as insignificant compared to the amount of Heartless she had to deal with in the Realm of Darkness. But of course that didn't change the fact they were a problem, and that boy in the mask obviously had something to do with them. She needed to confront that boy to understand the reason behind the Unversed appearance.

Miku continued to strike, block, and counter the Unversed until there were no more in her way and then jumped over the railing in front of the entrance to the square and chased after the boy in the mask. While running through the narrow entrance hall, Miku struck and eliminated any Unversed almost as soon as they appeared and made her way to a garden.

She stopped running for a moment and saw the boy in the mask enter an underground passage from the stone in the center of the garden. She attempted to chase after him, but once again Unversed appeared around her, and this time in larger numbers.

It took longer to fight her way through the horde of Unversed that surrounded Miku this time, but once she had, she caught her breathe and quickly ran after the boy in the mask. When Miku entered the underground facility, she began to hear voices and ducked behind the railing at the top of a flight of stairs leading down to a platform. "I've already told you; there's nothing to worry about." One voice said, and Miku looked over the edge of the railing to see the boy in the mask talking with a man in a suit with a red bandana.

"There better not be, because if you fail us, you're going to be the one who pays the price." The boy in the mask told the man.

"Hee, as if." The man replied, not taking the threat seriously. "Not that I actually care but, why is this Terra guy so special anyways?" He asked, changing the subject.

Miku gasped upon hearing the name Terra. She remembered that Maleficent had said he was one of the three Keyblade wielders Xehanort told her about. Then Miku suddenly realized that the two people she saw in the previous world that bore the same kind of armor as her were likely two of those Keyblade wielders.

"Let's just say he has certain qualities the Master finds… commendable." The boy in the mask answered.

"Is that right?" The man questioned, as if not convinced. "Well like I said, I don't really care. You and the old coot better just make sure you deliver you promise to me."

"That's up to the Master to decide when and if you get it. But before any of that…"

"Yeah I noticed," The man said and then turned around, holding up his sharpshooter and pointing over to where Miku is, nearly giving her a heart attack as she ducked down. "We've got a visitor here don't we? Hey, scaredy cat, why don't you come on out and play?" He said, speaking to Miku.

Already caught, Miku saw no more point in trying to hide, and so stood up and glared down at the two of them as she walked down the straits toward them. She walked up in front of the man holding the sharpshooters and spoke. "Who are you two?"

"My my aren't we impatient." The man said and held one of his sharpshooters closer to Miku. "Don't you think you should be introducing yourself first? Under the conditions I mean." He told Miku with sarcasm coloring his voice.

"So you must be the one who gave Maleficent a hard time. Miku, was it?" The masked boy suddenly said, surprising both the man and Miku to the fact he knew her name.

"How do you-" Miku started, but then realized he had used the name Maleficent as well, they must have known each other. "Who are you? And what do you have to do with the Unversed?" She asked instead.

"There's no point in telling you the answer to those questions." The boy replied, shaking his head as if disappointed or bored. "If you're anything like your friends, then there's no reason to leave you alive." At those words, Miku jumped back and brought out her Keyblade to defend herself. "Although I have something else I need to take care of. So I'm going to let you take care of her, but don't screw it up.

"As if! Ha," The man laughed, and then the masked boy began to vanish into a portal of darkness.

Miku attempted to stop him. "Hey wai-"

"Ah, ah, ah," The man pointed his sharpshooters at Miku again, to keep her from trying anything until he was gone. "You heard the brat; you're my toy now, kitty cat. Let's have some fun." He said with a grin, and then he and Miku prepared to fight.

For a moment the two stared each other down, but then the man, Braig, chuckled and teleported up to a ledge Miku couldn't reach and pointed his sharpshooters down at her. "Got you now!" He said and fired off an arrow.

Miku wasn't about to stand there like a rock and let it hit her though. She dashed to the side and then kept running around the platform while Braig continued to fire arrows. Once Braig ran out of arrows, he teleported back down and instantly reloaded his weapons.

Miku took the chance and charged strait at him, leaping and swinging her Keyblade down on him, but just before she connected Braig teleported again and then appeared upside down in mid air. "You better run now." He warned Miku and began firing off consecutive shots.

Miku ducked to the side. "Fira," She called and threw a fire spell at Braig, who took the hit but didn't budge and fired another round of arrows.

His endurance surprised Miku, but she didn't let that keep her from dodging his arrows, as well as the next round. "Reload," Braig stated and loaded in more arrows.

In that instant, Miku used blizzard edge to strike Braig and followed up with fire surge to add on to the damage. Braig teleported back to the ground and then began running around Miku and continually shooting his arrows. Miku started running out of the way, but the arrows were able to track her to an extent, so the last few managed to strike her. This gave Braig an opening as he reloaded and teleported upside-down again and shot a few arrows at her.

But when Braig fired off more rounds, Miku got out of the way just in time and ran in to attack Braig with a long combo and finished with a thunder spell. After that, Braig went back to the ground and put his sharpshooters together, and began charging a giant dark arrow. Seeing this, Miku prepared herself and in the instant Braig fired the arrow with frightening speed, she jumped over it and slammed her Keyblade on top of Braig, and then used sliding dash followed by a short combo, but half way through Braig teleported back up onto the ledge and prepared to snipe again.

Braig quickly fired off his first arrow and Miku almost didn't have time to react. It was too late to dodge, so instead she blocked the attack, and to her surprise the arrow was actually redirected strait back at Braig, striking him instead. Braig quickly shot off another arrow, but Miku blocked and deflected it back at him again, forcing him to teleport down and reload. Miku took the moment to use a cure spell, and then waited as Braig moved into the air, upside-down again.

Braig fired off two rounds of arrows, and Miku dodged the first round and the blocked the second, bouncing them right back at Braig. After that Braig flipped back to the ground ran in a circle around Miku and continually shooting arrows again, but started from an extremely close range, giving Miku no time to block or dodge. Once he ran out of arrows he reloaded while the last few still struck Miku and then began charging the huge arrow.

He shot it off, but Miku rolled to the side and just narrowly avoided it, and then used a cure while Braig reloaded again. Miku then ran at Braig, but he teleported back a little and shot of a round of arrows. But Miku jumped to the side and then used sonic blade. Braig shot a second round of arrows to try and stop Miku, but she was too fast and used the continuing sonic blade as a dodge and attack.

Once more Braig circled Miku while continually shooting arrows, but Miku wasn't going to fall for that again. She jumped over the closest arrows and then ran away until the rest of the arrows hit the ground, and then turned and used a fire spell on Braig, and then ran for him. Braig had to reload and in doing so left him wide open for a quick combo until he teleported away and began charging his huge arrow one last time.

But it was obvious to Miku that Braig was running out of steam and instead of waiting for it and then dodging, she ran strait in at Braig and used sliding dash followed with one last swing of her Keyblade, and she finished him off before he even fired the arrow.

Finally defeated, Braig jumped away, breathing heavily. "Well, well, looks like kitty cat's got some claws after all." He said jokingly, attempting to make light of his situation. "Well, I know when I'm beat." He said, raising his hands as if surrendering, but smiled like he wasn't actually defeated.

"Tell me about the boy in the mask and what you know about Daichi and Manami." Miku ordered Braig with her Keyblade still out.

"As if," Braig replied, not about to hand over any information. "I don't actually know anything about your friends to begin with, that's just the brat. But I'm not gonna' tell you anything about him because he's already gonna' wring my neck when he finds out I let you off the hook."

"You should keep in mind who the winner is here." Miku stated, trying to give Braig a reason to tell her what he knew.

"You may have me beat right now, but that doesn't mean I'm down for the count." Braig threatened and grinned, putting up his sharpshooters like he was ready for round 2.

Miku prepared herself for another battle, but instead of fighting, Braig suddenly jumped behind her and up to the top of the stairs leading to the outer gardens. "Hee, catch you later, kitty cat." He said, and before Miku could do anything about it he was gone.

"Hey," Miku shouted after him, but when she got outside Braig was already long gone without a trace.

Miku decided there was no reason to stay around here anymore, with the masked boy already having left. She sighed because after all that she didn't get any information at all; not about the masked boy or Daichi and Manami. So even with no leads, she employed her armor and left the world in search of her friends once again.


	18. The Masters

_Chapter 17: The Masters_

Drifting through the Darkness between worlds, Manami kept herself hidden within her armor and struggled to find some kind of security. There had never been a greater torment for Manami than being trapped in the Realm of Darkness; and so anything that reminded her of the sensation of being surrounded by endless darkness completely terrified her beyond imagining. And this definitely qualified.

Finally, she managed to wonder down onto a new world, but much to Manami's discomfort, it was devoid of light; even devoid of life. She looked around, but all she saw was a barren wasteland.

The Badlands

"What is this place?" She asked herself and took a step forward.

Suddenly, a voice uttered a single word from behind Manami. "Manami?" The voice said her name in question, causing her to violently jerk her body around to see who is was.

The person she saw was an elderly man that she recognized immediately. "Master Xehanort!" She said with an odd mixture of surprise and relief.

"So you remember who I am?" Xehanort asked just to make sure.

"Yes, I-" Manami started, but then cut herself off. "Wait, you know I've lost my memories?"

"I met Daichi a while back; he told me you had all lost your memories while in the Realm of Darkness. Tell me Manami, have you remembered anything?"

"Well, yes but- nothing important. It's just bits and pieces of my past." Manami answered.

"I see," Xehanort said and looked down as if thinking about what to do. "Listen Manami, it isn't safe here."

"Where is here?" Manami asked, once again looking around at the barren scenery.

"This place is where the boy who controls the Unversed plaguing the worlds, Vanitas resides." Xehanort told Manami.

"That boy in the mask? I've seen him already."

"You have; what happened!?"

"I fought him once, but he was too strong, I was lucky to get out of there alive."

"Manami, you are not ready to face Vanitas, for your own safety you must leave this place immediately."

"What about you, what if that Vanitas person comes back?" Manami refused to leave.

"I will be fine on my own. It is more important you and your friends meet again. I sent Daichi off to look for you and Miku when I met him, you must do the same." Xehanort said.

"We can look for them together." Manami said. "We don't have to split up, Master. It will be better once we're all together."

"No, before that, the three of you must regain your lost memories. Only then can we meet again."

"But why!?" Manami still argued to stay. "Why can't I stay with you? What do we need to know so badly before we can be with you again? Just tell me." She asked of Xehanort.

Manami saw no reason for her Master to be shoving her away like this. But according to him, there was something in her lost memories that she desperately needed to recall before they could be near one another. But if it was so important a detail, why was it he couldn't just tell her? If he did, she might remember it on the spot anyways.

Xehanort looked down at the ground before answering Manami. "I can't." He told her with a sorrowful tone. "It's not something you should hear from me. It is something the three of you need to realize on your own. When your hearts remember the event you need to know, you will come to remember what your purpose in life is. But if I reveal it to you too soon, the toll it might have on your heart may be too great to bear." As Xehanort said this, he turned away from Manami as if ashamed of something. "I implore you Manami; leave here and do not return until you have found your friends. The masked boy who hides here is my responsibility for reason I cannot divulge. I will be fine on my own; so please, leave."

_"Come here." _Suddenly, a voice echoed inside Manami head.

She realized the voice belonged to Master Xehanort who stood in front of her right now, but anything liked to those words remained a mystery. She could not recall when he had said that to her or even if he had been speaking to her at the time; she wasn't sure if the memory was connected to the event Xehanort was talking about or if it was something unrelated she was simply remembering because she was close to him.

But there was one question Manami had about this memory that was more important to her than any other question she could ask. She had no idea why, but when she thought about those words in her memory, the only thing that accompanied them was an overbearing sense of betrayal. Manami could not remember what had happened during that time to make her feel such an emotion at those words, and because it was her Master she was thinking about, she almost didn't want to remember.

Shaking the thought from her mind, Manami straightened up and spoke one last time to her Master. "I promise you, when I find Miku and Daichi, I will come back." And with those final words, Manami employed her armor and glider and soared off to continue looking for her friends.

Once Manami was gone, Xehanort turned back to where she was and then smirked. "Now, to bring Terra here."

Once again flying through the void between worlds, Manami couldn't stop thinking about Master Xehanort and what he had said. He had told her that the memory she needs to have before they can be together again isn't something he can simply tell her, that it will only mean something when she remembers it herself. She couldn't say for sure why that was, but she would trust her Master, and then return as soon as she found Miku and Daichi.

The next world Manami found herself at was not much, a single tower that sat underneath the night sky. Manami walked closer to the towers when Unversed appeared, but for once the number seemed oddly few, and she cut through them with ease. With them out of the way, Manami opened the doors to the tower and entered to see if there was anyone inside.

Mysterious Tower

Entering the tower, Manami went up a spiral staircase until she came to a single room at the top. When she entered she saw an old wizard standing next to the window, looking out at the stars.

Manami was about to say something when the old man spoke first. "Manami, do you remember who I am?" He asked of her, startling Manami.

Manami looked at the man as he turned to her and studied his face. She remembered. "Master Yen Sid." She said in a melancholy tone.

"Yes," Yen Sid replied, and then walked over to sit in his chair. "Manami, there are important things we must discuss. First of all, I want to tell you that I have met with Daichi." These words were all it took to make Manami listen with intense focus. "He is well, so you need not worry. But also, I must ask if you as well have become aware that you were in the Realm of Darkness for 10 years?"

"I am…" Manami answered, lowering her head in sorrow.

Then, thinking about it now, remembered how when she found out she had been trying to see someone named Ansem the Wise, who she felt might have known her. She had been turned away, but not because Ansem hadn't heard of her, but because they thought she was an imposter due to the fact she hadn't been heard from in those 10 years.

"Master," Manami began. "Do you know if I ever met someone called Ansem the Wise?" She asked him. If he could confirm it, then maybe some memories would return.

Yen Sid appeared to be contemplating the question. "I can't say I remember you mentioning anyone by that name before; is this something important?"

"No, if you don't know then there's no reason to think on it." She said. "About Daichi, do you know where he is now?"

"When he came, I pointed him to Eraqus; because he had met with Miku and I felt visiting your home would help the recovery of you memories. I want you to also go and see him, although I cannot guarantee that Daichi is still there with Eraqus."

"I understand, Master. I will take your advice." Manami told Yen Sid and turned toward the door.

"Manami, one last thing." Yen Sid said to stop Manami. "Have you recalled anything of importance pertaining to your Master, Xehanort?"

At that question, Manami breathed deeply. She had just met with Master Xehanort before coming here, but the memory she had with feelings of betrayal made her want to keep that to herself; at least for now.

"No, nothing of importance; just memories of my training with him." She lied.

"I see, well, you best be on your way, then." Yen Sid told Manami, and she gave a light nod before leaving to go see Master Eraqus at her home.


End file.
